The Cross

The Beach here is a special place. Right now there are a lot of creative people living here. Apart from our most well known artist and poet, William Blake, who wrote some of his finest language work here. 

I love walking along the Beach with the dog. But the studio here, Beach Studio, is especially my favourite place. There are some pics at the front of this website I included - some of kit I’ve acquired over the years. 

Home studios are often a money black hole. But I’ve now a pretty stable list of hard and software that I love working with. 

I used to advice people to get the best you can for your money. But I’m changing my mind about this. In reality, it will only end up spending until you’re feeling good about your studio. Seeing word like Prism, Avalon, UA, Neumann, Yamaha, Waves, Abbey Road, iZotope, Steinberg, Output, Spitfire, Native Instruments, McPherson, Larrivee, Fender, etc. etc.. make me smile. Amazingly, Apple’s created an lovely platform (Logic Pro X), which I find myself using more and more. And their stock plugins are pretty great.

So this is why I love playing with most days. However, that’s not the most important thing about this space. There is one place that is even more special within the Beach Studio:

The Cross.

The Cross is the center of this space. It’s the reason I only wanted to work music, even from my childhood. It’s the inspiration for me to come back to this space every day. 

I mentioned in my first book (Song Maps) that I heard some advice from one of the pro songwriters at a GMA event in The Rockies asked, 

“What kit for their studios should songwriters buy?” 

We were thinking it might be a plugin or a guitar or something. But the pro songwriter said,

“The best investment in your songwriting is investment in your own craft.”

That’s still a brilliant piece of advice. 

But I’d take it one step further. Invest in The Cross, a physical version. This remember me every time that here is a holy, creative, sacred place. This place enables me to find new depths of inspiration. And that’s worth writing for.

Take care friends, 

S.