Tuesday, 6 April, 2004 16:58
Stewart Dugdale - The Shirley Songwriter |
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| Stewart
Dugdale |
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Southampton
songwriter, Stewart Dugdale recently completed a homebuilt studio
in his back garden.
Simon Marks listened to the first mp3s to leave the studio. |
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Stewart
Dugdale is a songwriter. Working from his home in Shirley, Southampton,
he lures local singers and musicians to his purpose-built studio
where they sing, play and record the songs he's written. They have
quite a laugh, too.
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| Stewart
Dugdale |
Giving
up his job at the Council, Stewart took time out to chase his dream
and, six months later, an album was completed.
That album is a demo - of Stewart's songwriting, and also of all
the local singers and musicians who got involved.
Stewart's busily sending the CD to publishing and management companies.
Stewart's website
compliments and reflects the stuff he's doing in the studio. Singers
are profiled and there are contact details for everyone concerned.
There's no pretence in evidence on the site - everything and everyone
is presented at face value, and as a result it feels credible.
The mp3s sound great. A huge improvement over Stewarts previous
demos which, though presentable, were a bit rough at the
edges.
The hard work was worth it - this new stuff has the shine of a studio
production. Comparing the old
and new
versions of "Day By Day" there's a marked improvement,
partly brought about by vocallists David Benner & Fran Lazarski
- Stewart admits he's not a brilliant singer - but the strings also
make a big difference.
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| Elizabeth
Spencer |
Elizabeth Spencer and Shelley Payne play violin,
viola and cello - these are real strings, not some expensive keyboard
or sampler.
To make a decent job of recording either vocals or acoustic instruments
can be difficult, but Stewart has done a great job.
The website even has a photo-diary of the studio construction, from
the demolision of an old wooden shed to the construction of a new
metal building. That's new metal, not nu-metal. I'm not sure how
sound-proof the studio is - Stewart doesn't say whether he has any
neighbours.
What do you think of Stewart's songs? Give them your star rating!
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