Artist Bio
Influences: Laudanum
10th FAWM. I remain, as ever, your humble hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophile.
02/02: Half the challenge done already, thanks to a fever-dream feast! I'm not even sure anything makes sense. Real life is threatening to keep me busy, so this buffer is probably just as well.
07/02: WELP I JUST CROSSED THE FINISH LINE IN 7 DAYS, beating my usual record by about three weeks. But I'm far from done, mark my words.
16/02: Finished a double FAWM in a little over half the allotted time. Output was a triumph of quantity over quality for a while, but the latter is starting to make a late resurgence. Still one collab to fulfill before my record is equalled.
24/02: For the first time ever, a full suite of 14 collaborations for FAWM! I can scarcely believe it myself. A big thank you to all my partners-in-crime. You've turned my lyrics into something much greater still.
03/01/2017: FAWM compilation released! Check it out:
https://stephenwordsmith.bandcamp.com...
Featuring the talent of so many artists of FAWM and 50/90, including 'little star' from this year. Enjoy!
Songs (36)
the moment captive
Soundboard
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@leepat Mar 22
Hi Stephen, sent an idea to your email address. I might have overdone it - your call...
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@johncrossman Mar 7
Either what you said or... my mom doesn't know how to use the Internet. Let's go with what you said.
I listened to it all again on Saturday and was very happy remembering having heard about half those songs and then hearing the other new-to-me tunes. Very enjoyable. My only regret is not having collaborated with you again this year. -
@metalfoot Mar 6
Glad that was a positive for you! It felt odd, to me, clicking on the song and it starting to play and I was like..oh, right, I've listened to this one already!
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@timfatchen Mar 3
All done. @frogspawn has legged it.
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@timfatchen Mar 3
the space boys in both incarnations will be along shortly. I'm at 6 hours!
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@timfatchen Mar 3
And Fire alarm. The machinery is beginning to melt, odd hiccups in recording I can't rectify without redoing which won't happen,,!
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@timfatchen Mar 3
socks on! Trelia +guardian done. Nearly through
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@timfatchen Mar 3
Kickyour sockpuppet again. Kokoschka done, Long-lived queens shortly (15mins)
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@timfatchen Mar 2
Petit mal de mer struck, in this case a desire to be back on the ship. Universal is ready and Frankly Terrible is, indeed, that. Mrs Tadpole has fled to sanctuary so the Spawn should be able to finish the rest in short order, or in the promised frypan.
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@timfatchen Mar 2
@frogspawn has shifted to keyboard. We don't like to interrupt him because he might bite and rabies would be awkward right now. We'll give him 10 hours or so by which time he'll be done. Or dinner.
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@timfatchen Mar 2
@frogspawn believing we're still safely at sea, has managed to CBG Smoker, On Pants, Absolut and Twelfth, and possibly Chess in the last two hours, and if he can work out how to play the keyboard again, should be on target to finish the rest sometime tomorrow (about 7 hours all up). So the ones already done can be jointed and we'll upload.
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@darcistrutt Mar 2
Ha! You realize I'm one of "those" people that would even do that in forward motion... 😉 Ever the excited one - that's me!
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@lazyafro Feb 27
Hello my friend!
unfortunately I don't think I'll have time to put one of your songs to music as I thought I would 😞 -
@guatecoop Feb 27
Hey there....
I got your vocals for the exquisite corpse and loved them. I actually sang with them, which I have not done before. Anyway, do you mind if I post my portion as a collab with you? I think I will dress out that into a full song. If you have more lyrics for it, I would use them. I can also send you the partial song that I did if you like. Thanks again for the great lyrics. -
@petemurphy Feb 23
The vocal is a bit ropey, as I had exactly 2 mintues to sing it... no re-takes, and it felt different when I sang it over the piano and string backing to how it did when I played it with the guitar earlier. I can redo the vocal at some point and get it tighter (it needs to be snappy!).
It didn't come out quite as frantic as I first thought it might, but here's what I did...
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5... -
@petemurphy Feb 23
Well we might end up with a 10 second song 😁 but I'll try to flesh the arrangement out a little. I've already written the music and melody. I'll try to get something together in the next couple of days. Thanks Stephen!
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@petemurphy Feb 20
Sorry for all the messages. I just found a few minutes to do a quick bit of editing, and re-uploaded it. The link in my last message should still work, as I just copied the new file over the top of the old one.
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@deadhead Feb 20
Thanks for listening to a couple of my songs! I'm glad you enjoyed listening to them.
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@petemurphy Feb 20
Ooops! Sorry Stephen. Don't know how I managed that, but here's the proper link..
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5... -
@petemurphy Feb 20
Also, there needs to be some longer pauses between some of the sections. If I can find a spare 10 mintues at some point today, I'll try to get it done 😀
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@petemurphy Feb 20
Stephen, I've barely had any time, but here's a very rough arrangement/mix of Balthazar.
I'm happy for you to use it on FAWM. I'm taking a few days off for my wife's birthday now. I'll still be checking into the site, but won't be doing any music until Wednesday.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5... -
@oddbod Feb 19
I'm raiding your wardrobe again...I know twice in two days, what can I say?
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@petemurphy Feb 19
I'm glad you like it, Stephen!
I started working on a basic string arrangement yesterday. I'll try to get some more work done on it today... -
@petemurphy Feb 18
To add - I'm hearing Balthazar as quite a dark orchestral piece. The version I've sent was just me mapping out a structural idea 😀
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@petemurphy Feb 18
Stephen, here's my worktape for Balthazar. It's pretty rough as far as the dodgy singing goes (especially the falsetto stuff - I hadn't quite figured out the notes I wanted to sing on those parts), and the guitar is a bit bombastic (the recorder was too close to the guitar, and not close enough to my mouth...), but it should give you a good idea of the direction I took, and how the majority of the melodies go...
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5... -
@metalfoot Feb 18
Thanks for your kind words, my friend. "Empty Page" was an interesting writing exercise for me and I'm glad it works!
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@petemurphy Feb 17
Hello Stephen, I've had a really busy day, but as I've been going about my business, 'Balthazar' has been on my mind. I was mostly thinking "How am I going to approach this? Will I need to break from my current stripped down guitar/vocal approach? Can I do justice to these great words?"
Whether I keep things stripped down is still to be determined, but I've just managed to find a bit of time to slip away and work on it. I 'think' I have a very strong idea, and I 'think' I've just written music for the whole thing.
I'm hoping to get a recording together over the weekend, before I have to break off for a few days for my wife's birthday.
I'll keep you posted.
Have a great weekend! -
@oddbod Feb 17
Cheers mate, I absolutely loved doing that
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@oddbod Feb 17
Splendid. Catch yer later
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@oddbod Feb 17
Act of Waiting - might give this a bash if that's okay
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@boyatheart Feb 16
Thanks for the commenting and listening. Looks like you've had a rip-roaring FAWM. Best wishes! 😀
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@chandra83 Feb 16
Thanks for your feedback on "The Dark Forest" 😀
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@toms Feb 16
I was pretty stoked when it occurred to me. 😀
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@timfatchen Feb 15
It was my tortured screaming under duress that drew your attention, _I_ know....
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@owl Feb 14
The commas help. I did assume you had thought of and discarded "womb" already, for reasons of your own.
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@owl Feb 14
Thanks. Yes, I know what "room" means, and I know what poetic license is, but it scanned oddly to me. 😀 I suppose it's meant to be read as "Zach is rooming in her" but it read to me as "Zach is in the rooming that belongs to her," despite multiple rereadings, which doesn't sound colloquial or natural to me.
I would probably just have used "womb" and left it at that, but I'm sure the actual vocal delivery in a recorded version would help clarify how to parse it! (Unless it's misheard as "rumen.") -
@metalfoot Feb 14
Oh well played. *applause* Now I'm in big trouble, eh?
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@dutch1967 Feb 14
Aaaah, just read your reply. I am so happey you likey, I'm adding vowels to words. I will most probably re-record some parts to make them sit together better. The violin parts need redoing for more texture and less midi-y vibrato. Maybe a different mic to record the vocals? Dunno.
Glad I could take you back to a past more medicated for a moment. -
@dutch1967 Feb 13
Posted a track to The Five Men. Hope you likey.
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@cloudboy Feb 13
Sir Wordsmith! How is it that I come here and you have 21 songs already! Thanks for the lovely comments on Hot Drinks: Espresso. Difficult can't even begin to describe what it took to put it together. Thanks again. Episode two is up!
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@fearlessflight2014 Feb 13
Thanks for your kind comments on Snow Moon. I'm putting some audio soon.
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@nancyrost Feb 9
Yes indeed. Gershwin applied to study with Ravel, and Ravel's rejection letter to Gershwin told him, "Why become a second-rate Ravel when you're already a first-rate Gershwin?"
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@nancyrost Feb 8
Good answer!
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@beat Feb 8
Thank you for the 'grand garde' compliment Stephen.
*] -
@stevenwesleyguiles Feb 8
Just mailed you a bit of a tune, methinks.
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@timfatchen Feb 8
For your Keep Your Inner Child Under Control basket.
Flying Tadpole has cruelly stamped on @frogspawn's hopeless entreaties to the ever-silent @pointlessaccount. He (Tadpole) refuses to let him (Frogspawn) ooze out till March.
It's hard being the superego of two alter egos. But why settle for a mere double life, sez I. -
@dutch1967 Feb 7
grrmmbl
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@dutch1967 Feb 7
I do feel that Stephen, that's why I chose to respond to Five Grown Men in such a hurry. I will not deliver a track in the same hurried manner.
My comment on The Beanstalk was of a toungue-in-cheek manner. (I realise I could be getting myself in doo-doo with the way I phrased that) -
@beat Feb 7
Thx for the go Stephen. *]
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@debs Feb 7
Your comment on Firehose made me laugh and laugh, Stephen! ☂️
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@hamiltonpoolhall Feb 7
based on a comment you left on @rosedeschamps ' soundboard, I now have you watchlisted, and am looking forward to reading through everything here!
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@darkmantle Feb 6
Forgot to mention. I'll clean it up after FAWM and add in a mandolin. 😀
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@darkmantle Feb 6
Glad you liked how the Puzzle's piece turned out!!
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@beat Feb 5
Hi Stephen, just sent you a mail.
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@krayzie003 Feb 3
I just finished writing lyrics off of your idea about T-Rex pee. I'll probably record it later today. Should I tag you as a collaborator on it?
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@stevenwesleyguiles Feb 3
You wanna crack out some lyrics for me and I'll record it?
We were paired in the random collab.
It is time for us to create MAGIC! 😀
Or at least...something resembling a song of some sort. -
@mikeskliar Feb 3
hey, just sent you an email private message about a possible lyric
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@darkmantle Feb 2
The Puzzle's Piece with music. It sounded so upbeat in my head when I started the song, so I went with it. The end got interesting so I went with it. 🤣
http://fawm.org/songs/65926/ -
@darkmantle Feb 2
Hi Stephen, I found the second piece to the puzzle. 😀 Final tweaking/mixing before upload. (need to EQ a bit)
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@gvgeis Feb 1
Holy crap.
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@mattblick Feb 1
Let's build a birdport
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@dutch1967 Feb 1
I cannot even.
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@sherrycanary Feb 1
Hey there
May I have a word with you? 😀 -
@nancyrost Feb 1
Happy tomorrow to you!
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@klaus Jan 31
Hi Stephen. You know, I have to confess, I always had a vague suspicion that you are one of those humble hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophile kind of people. 😀 Hope you have a great Fawm 2017.
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@thefuneralcrasher Jan 31
Cheers, Stephen! Looking forward to hearing some new music and perhaps making a fool of myself too.
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@donna Jan 31
Hello once again, Stephen. 😀 Always a delight to see your smiling face (even behind the 'PROBATED' sign) and read your laughing lyrics. 😉
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@scottlake Jan 31
And why might I ask are you banned from FAWMerick thread? I will do no such thing as the progenitor of the FAWMku thread that springs anew each year.
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@billysea Jan 31
Just gave a listen to The Ballad of Sonny Boy Carruthers. Hadn't heard that before and it made me smile so much listening. Thank you for posting it.
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@rosedeschamps Jan 31
Hello Stephen, my old friend.
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@michaelepic Jan 30
The Return of the Pimp with the Best Hat in FAWM.....
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@gvgeis Jan 30
I think we have a song on our hands.
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@tamsnumber4 Jan 30
Word Master, I wait in great anticipation for you to make your thoughts dance across my screen.......
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@gvgeis Jan 30
Haha, it was indeed; I've been coasting on that for four years now. Might need you to save my bacon again. 😁
Hehe. Bacon. -
@helene Jan 30
Welcome back! Happy FAWMing to you!
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@krayzie003 Jan 30
lmao right now at your rain/seawater/T-rex pee idea. I might have to use that somewhere. Can't wait to see what you bring us this FAWM
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@chariotbaldwin Jan 30
Welcome back dude - I promise to provide more feedback this year cos I know I sucked badly at it last year. 10 yrs huh?? That's impressive. February must totally be your favour month of the year right?
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@petra777 Jan 30
*waves*
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@judypie Jan 29
You've blown my mind a bit with the 'We're already living in Space' 😬
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@musicsongwriter Jan 29
Hi Stephen, looking forward to reading your new lyrics.
Nadia -
@cts Jan 29
FAWM 10, eh? Impressive. Most impressive.
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@thetau Jan 29
Hello again Stephen
May the FAWM be with you
Russ 😀 -
@cynthiawolff Jan 29
Here's to another year of wonder and magic....
looking forward to listening... -
@gvgeis Jan 29
Greetings and salutations!
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@johncrossman Jan 29
Greetings from another class of aught eight alumnus. Happy writing!
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@metalfoot Jan 29
Good sir, it is a pleasure to see you in these esteemed circles. May the joys and pleasures of FAWM be yours this year as you write the words that bring imaginations of musicians the world round to fevered pitch.
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@oddbod Jan 28
A very good day to you.
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@igg Jan 28
Great to see you here!
