Influences:   The usual ones for a pianist: Elton, Tom Waits, Ben Folds, Ron Mael and any new music I can get my ears on.

I'm a writer and musician from Glasgow, Scotland. Been songwriting on and off since the 80s, although recently most of my material has been in the service of my now defunkt band, murnie (murnie.bandcamp.com). I'm fond of unusual subjects for lyrics, but that doesn't mean I don't take it seriously.

2019 is my second FAWM. Last year I wrote 14 solid songs. Some were pretty good, some perhaps just good exercise. My demos last year were all rough recordings of piano and vocal, and the plan was to select the good ones, record them properly and make that album... but that never got done.

So, the plan for this year... is pretty much the same. After FAWM is over (and the current novel is done) maybe I'll dedicate a bunch of weeks just to recording my music. We'll see. But for now I'm loving getting to spend a month creating, so thanks for giving me that opportunity FAWMers.

Pronouns: He/Him

#1		Memo pop	12 Feb 3
#2		Shoelaces pop	15 Feb 6
#3		Building The Future	11 Feb 7
#4		Convict Stage 1960s western movie theme randomwikipedia	10 Feb 9
#5		Six Strong Women guy-with-piano	19 Feb 9
#6		Justified Fear Of The Beer beer shanty guy-with-piano	23 Feb 15
#7		Hold The Lie popish	11 Feb 17
#8		Till You See The Stars guy-with-piano	9 Feb 20
#9		Seaford guy-with-piano	15 Feb 21
#10		Team Photo guy-with-piano scottish pop-punk ethic	10 Feb 22
#11		Satan, My F*** Buddy full band sem-latin not really demonic	9 Feb 23
#12		Chopsicks guy-with-piano	9 Feb 23
#13		Someone To Stan guy-with-wurlitzer ss022319j superskirmish feast	12 Feb 23
#14		Cat's In The Concrete guy-with-piano philosophical	11 Feb 28
#15		Knock Three Times supernatural pop	13 Feb 28

Leave a message. Log in to FAWM or sign up first!
• 

  @yam655 Mar 25

  Thanks for the comment!

• 

  @leepat  Mar 22

  hey, meant to thank you about your comment on Like a God. The melody was a bitch to sing, but I'm quite happy with it. It all came about from the idea of the tritone as the devil's interval 😀

• 

  @mattoxic Mar 18

  Hi thanks for taking the time to listen and comment on Book by you - much appreciated

• 

  @sph  Mar 18

  Thank you for your comment on the reverse corpse. These kind of games are fun. The moment when the result is presented feels like a mixture of receiving a birthday present or winning a lottery.

• 

  @rainchaser  Mar 15

  Thank you for your kind words on, "I Will Eat Anything"! I really appreciate them!! Yeah, simplifying the chords makes it easy to write melodies. I also have found that writing quickly is my most strongest strength in writing songs.

• 

  @saulius Mar 15

  Thanks for the kind comment on Golden Hour. Unfortunately, I've not had the opportunity to visit Scotland, but I've experienced winter storms in Ireland, Iceland and Greenland, so I can imagine.

• 

  @ceilidh  Mar 15

  Thank you for your comment on Hay-on-Wye! Will have to keep Wigtown in mind if we ever get back across the pond!

• 

  @tamsnumber4  Mar 14

  Thanks for commenting on my collab song "Hope Beyond Hope", I appreciate the listen!!

• 

  @yarimurray  Mar 11

  Thanks for listening to Everyday Hero and your kind remarks. I especially appreciate your feedback on my piano playing, as I have been trying to work on improving in this area. Still lots of work to do but I guess it's getting there.

• 

  @mikegtz  Mar 10

  Thanks for coming to visit my song! Listening to Team Photo now.

• 

  @jwhanberry  Mar 9

  

• 

  @owl  Mar 8

  now I'm trying to think if I've done any songs that are AGGRESSIVELY AMERICAN... maybe next FAWM.

• 

  @audrey  Mar 8

  Thank you for your wonderful comments on my songs. I've been waiting to see if someone would 'get' the five final thumps in my piece Discord in the Boardroom, and you are the only one who did. Thanks. Percussion is rather limited in the version of Sibelius I have, and that sound was the closest I could find to the sound of a chairperson's gavel rapping the table as if to say, "Enough! Meeting adjourned!" Lol. Obviously, I need to find a better sound to convey that, but I've enjoyed reading people's guesses. Thanks again for the listens and kind comments.

• 

  @owl  Mar 8

  Ha, I did kind of wonder if you were playing it up 😉

• 

  @chrishope Mar 8

  thanks for commenting .. really nice to recieve,

• 

  @mkd  Mar 8

  Space dolphins!!!! 😂 (thanks for commenting!)

• 

  @cherok40  Mar 8

  Thank you a lot for listening and your very nice comments. Very much appreciated!

• 

  @wobbiewobbit  Mar 7

  thanks for your comments on the futility of books, yeah i am enjoying the controversy of that one 😉 - really i do enjoy reading 😀

• 

  @gflatminor  Mar 7

  Thanks for listening to "Bird in my Window" and leaving the kind feedback.

• 

  @cherok40  Mar 5

  Thank you a lot for listening and your kind - and very much appreciated - comments on February Moon.

• 

  @musicsongwriter Mar 5

  Thank you Neil for your kind comment on my music. Yes, it's sad and your vision is very connected with what I had in mind. Thank you for your listening and sharing your thoughts. I appreciate your support.
  Nadia

• 

  @donna  Mar 5

  Thank you for your very nice comment on 'Once'.

• 

  @infilktion Mar 5

  Thank you for your comment on "My Internet Boyfriend". It was fun capturing that moment in time.

• 

  @ceilidh  Mar 4

  Thank you for your comment on Winter Light Festival! We're fortunate to have relatively inexpensive hydroelectric and windpower which helps power the light shows, but I must admit that the fire shows are my personal favorites since you get to enjoy heat as well as light (not to mention the wonderful roar of the propane burners)!

• 

  @tamsnumber4  Mar 3

  Thanks for listening and commenting on my collab "Since We First Touched" I appreciate it!

• 

  @jwhanberry  Mar 1

  

• 

  @guatecoop  Mar 1

  Hey there, thank you for the comments! I think we probably like a lot of the same music, as you mentioned Gang of Four and Fugazi. If I can achieve anything close to the qualities of either, I would be thrilled.
  My best musical moment for me happened in DC, when my band played there and I was loading in my drums....Guy, Brendan, and Ian from Fugazi showed up and I found out because they were carrying my drums up to the club! Needless to say, I was nervous playing for the first few songs.....

• 

  @yarimurray  Mar 1

  Thanks for listening and your comments for Road To Somewhere. I enjoy your piano playing very much, as I am merely a hack when it comes to the keys. Looking forward to hearing more soon.

• 

  @momentegalerie Feb 28

  Thank you for your comment on my uke song "goodbye". Yeah, I try to use my uke more, because in fact it is a smaller instrument and it is nice to chill on the sofa with it in the lap and just jamming 😀. I have written 3 more uke songs actually this year, if you're interested: "Hier oben", "Nimm's leicht" and "Socken"

• 

  @tosm Feb 28

  Thank you for taking time to leave such a detailed comment on my music! Sub note...if you develop Building The Future, I can imagine it going brilliantly with female vocals, either soft soprano and breathy, or full-on Marlene Dietrich...tons of reverb and maybe even slowed right down?

• 

  @crisp1  Feb 27

  Thanks for all your really nice comments this FAWM! Much appreciated! One song to go, mate, and you'll win!

• 

  @carbonribs1 Feb 26

  Thanks for your comment on Who’s My Neighbor? 😀

• 

  @ohwell123 Feb 26

  I greatly appreciate your comment on my song Balsamic Moon. I will definitely look into your suggestions to develop it!

• 

  @chrisshepard Feb 26

  Thanks for the comment! Check out some of Wesley Willis' music and it will make more sense. Looking forward to getting home so I can listen to "Satan, My Fuckbuddy".

• 

  @ayehahmur  Feb 26

  And that's me hit 300 comments/100 zongs. If I can just get a couple more songs up in the next day or so, I'll be done for FAWM, I reckon.

• 

  @hannibalhamster Feb 25

  Thanks for all of your kind comments! I’m glad you’ve been enjoying them - I’ve been having a lot of fun coming up with them!
  
  It’s not a kazoo on The Ballad of... but instead a keyboard saxophone setting. I played it live on Saturday for the first time, though, and used a kazoo in a harmonica holder, which worked pretty well!

• 

  @moonraccoon  Feb 25

  Thank you for your interesting comment on Once Upon a Time When Wars Ended. I have a new perspective on it. I will have to give a closer listen to XTC. I've found a lot of joy in frustrating the listener a bit (might even be why a few people have asked if they're an influence).

• 

  @gemhughs Feb 23

  Thanks for you comments on “Looking for Trouble“!

• 

  @majordanby  Feb 23

  Seaford is just odd, no complaint here.

• 

  @zoom  Feb 22

  Thanx for your lovely comments and observations <3

• 

  @oaksnprairie  Feb 22

  Thank you for listening to my rant. Scottish roads are much more inviting.

• 

  @leomozi  Feb 22

  Wow, I'm honored that you put "Another Home" on the "recommended listening" discussion! Especially since your production is top-notch. Also, "tone poem" is exactly what I was going for, but I couldn't think of the term. You've made my day, @ayehahmur.

• 

  @cynthiawolff  Feb 22

  Thanks so very much for your visit and your encouraging comments..
  I am very self conscious about my voice on its own...especially when I’m trying to play guitar as well and your sweet comments will just bolster me up enough to get a song out today..
  Thank you.

• 

  @misterd Feb 22

  Thanks so much Neil for listening and the lovely comments on my acoustic song ' On my day off ' . i really appreciate it . Cheers mate !

• 

  @engebretsen  Feb 22

  Thx for comments on "New Mexico" Much appreciated!

• 

  @elliottlawrence Feb 22

  The last week is where all the magic happens! And of course I have to be oncall at work during it, but FAWM isn't without its fair share of obstacles I guess? 😜

• 

  @elliottlawrence Feb 22

  Ha, that's quite the coincidence that our songs have similar lyrical ideas. I guess great minds think alike! Really enjoying your stuff this year too, and good luck on these last 5 songs!

• 

  @engebretsen  Feb 21

  thx a lot for comments on "New Mexico" Much appreciated.

• 

  @mkd  Feb 21

  Thanks for your comment on I Got To! I liked that particular sequence too. It wasn’t until I was putting it up on here that I realised it also fulfilled the chromatic challenge!

• 

  @misterd Feb 21

  Thanks for listening and kind comments on my blues piano song ! Cheers

• 

  @gemhughs Feb 16

  Thanks for your comments on When I'm with You.

• 

  @misterd Feb 16

  Thanks so much for listening and the kind words on my funk song !

• 

  @mkd  Feb 14

  Thanks for both responding to my comment on your song (I think it must be a British thing, we’re rare for doing it I’ve discovered) and for your comment on Dear June! I’m a real pencil and paper person when trying to be creative - can’t think well when going straight to computer - so it felt magic to capture that in the song itself. Those particular lyrics are written in bigger, scruffier, non-joined-up writing, as I was keen to make sure I was producing a decent sound, and I was feeling the pressure time-wise of writing on the fly like that!

• 

  @owl  Feb 13

  I sew myself--it's nice to think of people remembering these little details after you're gone.

• 

  @ballyhoot Feb 13

  Hi, thanks for your comments on my song, It is Wot it Is. For what it's worth, I finally added my vocals:
  
  https://fawm.org/songs/93279/

• 

  @aflinner  Feb 13

  Thanks for listening to “Back 2 tha Future.” Glad you enjoyed it, appreciate the comments. 😁

• 

  @alg123  Feb 12

  Thanks for taking time to listen to my song and for the feedback!

• 

  @owl  Feb 12

  forgot to reply to your soundboard comment earlier--things are going well with the band! I switched from ukulele to guitar a couple of months ago and we also got a new guitarist as our old one quit. So we're in a period of slight growing pains as he's learning all our songs and I'm re-learning them all on a new instrument. But new and different is exciting. 😀 How is everything going with you?

• 

  @misterd Feb 12

  Thanks a lot for listening to
  my song ‘Slip between the cracks ‘ . Cheers

• 

  @erucaesounds  Feb 11

  Thanks for the kind words on Sodium Light, glad you like it.

• 

  @lanasolyluna Feb 10

  Thanks so much Neil. Hope you’re having a good FAWM so far. Will be back to listen soon.

• 

  @crisp1  Feb 9

  Thanks for your comment on Singer in This Bar. Paul did a great job on it.

• 

  @theresaj  Feb 8

  You made me laugh with the awkward high five for us pathetic piano soloers! Thanks for the comment!

• 

  @porrectus  Feb 8

  Thanks for your comment on Lines and dots, I hadn't thought of that.

• 

  @kahlo2013  Feb 7

  I loved it!

• 

  @owl  Feb 6

  Hello again Neil! Thank you so much for the lovely comments on "Chinese New Year"! I realized when I woke up to the flurry of comments about how abruptly the song ended that I accidentally cut off the outro (with time signature change!) when exporting. I have fixed it, along with the bass thing that was bothering me that nobody else noticed 😀 Just thought I'd let you know. I will be back to check out what you've been up to later on!

• 

  @moonraccoon  Feb 6

  Thank you so much for your compliment for Hope Beyond Hope.

• 

  @rickcannon Feb 6

  Thank you for the lovely comment!

• 

  @headfirstonly  Feb 5

  Hi Neil - good to see you around again!

• 

  @zecoop  Feb 5

  Watchlisting... Thanks phone for 'correcting' me

• 

  @zecoop  Feb 5

  I'm waiting you just because of your comment about Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson on my brother's song. Two of my all time favorites! I'll be checking your music out later today. 😀

• 

  @kahlo2013  Feb 5

  Tag - you’re it! Time for you in Morph 2. Here is my song to morph:
  
  https://fawm.org/songs/91076/
  
  Have fun!

• 

  @srcoops Feb 4

  Thanks for giving a listen to I Remember

• 

  @guatecoop  Feb 3

  Thanks! You named 2 of my faves, but especially Joe Jackson! Cheers!

• 

  @elliottlawrence Feb 3

  Thanks for the nice comment. Good luck with FAWM this year!

• 

  @tseaver  Feb 2

  Thanks for the listen / comment on my song, "Nothin'," and a happy FAWM to you this year!

• 

  @nuj4x Jan 24