This is the second collaboration I’ve worked on with the very talented Mark Spruce (Original Spruce).  

This is a folk song exploring the boundaries between this world and the spiritual world and tells the tale of an encounter with a Robin in a churchyard. 

Lyrics by Mark Spruce
Music & performance by James Whiteman. 

Best with headphones. Hope you enjoy it. 

Take care

James 

Lyrics:

Sky light Grey 

I stood in the church yard
Cold winters day
My back to the beach tree
Sky light grey

On the branch above me
Cock robin perched 
He sang then stared intently 
I returned his gaze

He repeated his song
And looked again
I smiled and nodded
Like we were friends 

I turned so slowly
As he moved to another branch
Eyeball to eyeball 
Repeat performance 

We both stood still
Locked in our game
He moved on once more
To repeat his refrain

I turned one eighty
When he landed behind me
My smile got wider
My heart got lighter
Watching each other
I'm absorbing this experience 

Then he came closer
We had circled the tree
A mystical moment 
This bird and me

You said your father
Would return
In the spirit of a robin
Watching over us one day

As I stood in that churchyard
Lost in that moment
I felt your father 
Came back to say

I'm here, I'm still here
I will always be here


Mark Spruce copyright Feb 2024

Further info:
The first collaboration is on the Original Spruce site called ‘Old Brock’ (music and performance Mark Spruce: lyrics James Whiteman).

Sky Light Grey (Collaboration James Whiteman & Original Spruce)

Lyrics & Vocals: STILLVIVID
Music,Mix and Production: dj baubau

   STILLVIVID - High Side Bleed
       https://soundcloud.com/stillvivid/high-side-bleed
   From album SAGA:
       https://soundcloud.com/stillvivid/sets/saga
   STILLVIVID soundcloud:
       https://soundcloud.com/stillvivid
   STILLVIVID youtube:
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7kPfsB35xo&list=UULFwJLC1MWQDmCJu5rYdxoXkQ&index=7


Salt into, to my wounds
Breaking all your rules
I’m not here to lose

Obtuse, abstract, complicated
The fear inside wants me to play dead…
Vanish to thin air….
This I swear

Two arrows split my ribcage
The air left my lungs in haste
Blood drained, pale, lifeless
Don’t know how I survived again

Stood up, buried my sword in his heart
Somehow, I found the strength
Push on everything you have
Use it for everything you’ll gain

Up, up, never give up, up
Don’t you give up
The world is yours

Salt into, to my wounds
Breaking all your rules
I’m not here to lose

Nothing in life comes easy
Paying the price costs more than you know
In tragedy we must stay the course
There’s no running away

STILLVIVID & dj baubau - High Side Bleed Rough Rmx

https://ffm.to/la-dolce-vita
A bittersweet look at life in Italy, where everyday struggles are faced with resilience and warmth amidst the chaos.
https://beatingedge.bandcamp.com/track/la-dolce-vita
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXmoS4Bd5DE
https://open.spotify.com/intl-it/track/67dlH0CEi4CX0LI1X4bD5q?si=f4ecbaf4499c4386
Released on major streaming platforms on August 15, 2024.
©2024 Beating Edge

Lyrics:

Sunny days mafia plays
Broken streets where children stray
Dusty paths old cars stuck
We keep going we push our luck

Echoes of earthquakes shake the ground
Unemployment all around
Still we smile laugh so loud
Red wine and love make us proud

Keep on singing in the street
Life's a tango awkward beat
We're still dancing in defeat
In the chaos we find heat

Government schemes gone astray
Promises lost yesterday
Pasta dreams fill our soul
In the madness find our goal

Venetian masks to hide our pain
Hope in hearts through sunshine rain
Justice blind we take our stand
Hand in hand across the land

Keep on singing in the street
Life's a tango awkward beat
We're still dancing in defeat
In the chaos we find heat

La Dolce Vita

shuffle

Solitude

My Life Pt.2.mp3

Chase the Silence

V4 of part 1 of "Warning!'. Something different for ya. 

This thing has turned into like 2 or 3 songs, but in my head it will be one pretty long piece. It has a lot going on, hopefully not too much but then again that's the fun of it.  

Theme of the song is around one of my favourite Dreamcast games of all time, "Ikaruga". A notoriously difficult shoot ‘em up from the late 90’s. More broadly speaking, it’s about fighting, not giving up, then having to do it all again even once you’ve defeated whatever your version of a final boss is in life.

Note: It’s been a while since I’ve released anything, so like I originally set out to do, I’ll be uploading development versions of songs as I go along. I’llll title the versions so it makes sense to all of us and include them in a dedicated playlist. 

Version number: 4
Date: 12 Nov 23

Main changes/updates:
- Iikaruga theme song intro. Altered Beast was still cool though

- Tidied up the intro which sucked up most of my time. Added in some additional gameplay sounds from the game I found online

- Was jamming along to the track and came across a little motif that changed the whole direction of the song again, but for the better I think… Still messy, but just getting down the pieces so I remember what’s what

- Got some new bass plugins. I’m a Bogren Digital fanboy through and through now. For rhythm stuff at least...

- I’ll retrospectively upload the older versions from when I started work on this gigantic time sink 3 weeks ago this week or next

Artwork: Leonardo.AI using photos of myself along with style references from Ikaruga's artwork.

WARNING! No Refuge

WARNING! No Refuge (V4)- Demo in Progress

bad feeling

airplanes

Reason

Mr. Robot Head. Cyber anarchist. Retro futurist. Interstellar guitarist. Fresh out of the void & ready to rescue humanity from mediocrity and existential dread. Experimental rock, progressive metal, funk, soundscapes and everything in between. Instrumental. inspired by the tragedy that is: the human condition.  Perth, WA. 

PREVIOUS BIO:

I'm a guitarist and wanna be composer / songwriter- from Perth, Western Australia. I'm currently releasing a bunch of solo material as I have a backlog of older demos and also a new creative streak (thanks life). 

If you enjoy the following you might enjoy some of my work:

Devin Townsend, Porcupine Tree, Ghost, Metallica, Tool, Lofi, game and movie soundtracks, bots, retrofuturism, Eastern philosophy and spirituality, conspiracies (and truths) combined with unique storytelling, riffs or the matrix ...You might like what i put out.

Guess you could say it's prog rock, metal, atmospheric soundscapes, curated samples, synth melodies, stoner rock vibes and storytelling elements like samples and all that good stuff.  But a few killer solos in there too - and riffs. I like riffs....

You won't just see the final, polished product either. I'll release demos, phone memos, whatever - Along with the actual end result so you can take part in this musical journey with me.

That's enough about me. Enjoy the music, let me know what you like/don't like, and say hi over on my socials. Give some love to Code Red too while you're at it. Awesome local band that I miss playing in heaps. Check them out on Spotify or catch one of their upcoming shows here in Perth.

WARNING! No Refuge (V4)- Demo in Progress

Mr. Robot Head™ [Instrumental Guitarist]