Post-psychedelic tendencies and architectural cohesion : a new perspective on the rock album

Abstract

The intention of this thesis is to provide a context for my creative work, which consists of: Sweet Distractions, a recorded album of ten tracks on CD; Here's The Saturns, an EP of five tracks on CD; full scores of the album; and two sets of scored studies, Three Studies for Two Lap-Steel Guitars and Two Studies in Rock Music Structure. I consider my music to be post-psychedelic rock that is structured through an eclectic emotional narrative. My songwriting is informed by both my experiences as a rock musician and my classical training. Consequently my creative approach incorporates a combination of improvisation, notation and analysis, studio experimentation and collaboration. The thesis addresses my retrospective attitude in songwriting, referencing influences such as The Who, David Bowie and Neil Young. It analyses sixties psychedelic rock, exploring the philosophy of Timothy Leary and his influence on bands such as The Beatles and Pink Floyd, and observing the evolution of psychedelia through the music of Radiohead and Wilco. It also examines my classical-rock hybrid approach to album architecture. The thesis is structured in three parts: Credo, Context, and Structural Analysis. The Credo discusses the operating principles of my creative process, which are: emotional journeying, psychedelic elements, an eclectic-retro attitude, architectural design and a scored-visceral process. The Context section examines rock music songwriting practices with an in-depth analysis of psychedelic rock and an historical investigation into the development of the 'concept album'. The Structural Analysis explores the details of my creative work by illustrating the classical architecture behind the emotional, post-psychedelic narrative of the album and its precursor Studies One and Two.

Date of Award	2009
Original language	English