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Rant

Finally, AFL Is Over For Another Year

Posted on by Corey Stewart

With the 2022 AFL Grand Final done and dusted, this time of year between the end of the AFL season and the beginning of the Cricket season is in my opinion, absolutely wonderful.

No more wasting precious oxygen on innocuous and irrelevant patches of small talk revolving around the footy. Who wins, who loses and the stats in-between are of no interest to me at all.

As a professional musician for many years who played in pubs with huge flatscreen televisions pumping out sport in all directions to a mindless audience, I was at war with sport for the attention of the masses.

(No doubt, I’ll be facing that very same fight again when I’m back out gigging but hopefully with a fresher perspective from being a little older and wiser)

I do remember the gigs I played post footy season. Those were the one where the punters actually listened… That was a refreshing change.

Personally, I don’t understand the concept of pubs with so many TV’s as it seems to defeat the whole purpose of going to a pub in the first place. Isn’t a pub a place to meet and have a conversation with others?

Maybe I’m just becoming a cranky old bugger.

I do see it time and time again though, a pub full of people but no-one talking to each other. All eyes are glued to the sport, or the TAB or whatever else is flashing up on the multitude of screens around the place.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really dislike sport per se, I just think there’s a time and a place for everything.

Looking back on my time as a professional musician, I noticed a disturbing trend of being hired solely as a de-facto jukebox politely playing in the background while the punters are simply watching TV or, rudely texting on their mobiles.

To me, it seemed that a lack of a multitude of ambient background noise/images was the enemy to the audience and I have no idea why.

Another thing I had noticed was that the amount of clapping (or at the very least, polite general recognition that there was live music in the room) had decreased dramatically and trying to communicate to people through live music was becoming harder and harder to achieve.

I really don’t want to sound like I’m having a whinge. I mean, live music is awesome and I’m still looking forward to playing music for a living again. I do realise that with every occupation there are good days and not so good days to experience.

I get that.

However, I just want to be part of a live music scene that makes a difference in peoples lives rather than just being a functional accompaniment to watching sport on the TV.

Is that too much to ask?

Oh well, AFL is over for another year, Summer is just around the corner and things are looking up and even though I’ve just gone on a bit of a rant about Sport vs Music, I do love my cricket…

Peace,

Corey 🙂

LifeMoving House

My Move “Down South” – Six Months On

Posted on by Corey Stewart

Yesterday, September 23rd, 2022 marked six months since I made the move down from Dudley Park to my parents’ place in Goolwa on the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula as a temporary measure until I found a place of my own.

In that time I’ve been busy setting up my temporary work/recording space in Dads shed and re-establishing my web design business ZenWeb plus getting myself ready for live performance and songwriting/recording as well.

On the house hunting front, I’ve not had that much luck of late mainly due to the current economic climate and how it’s affecting the housing market in general.

I am, however, using this situation as a perfect example of my life being the greatest teacher and it allowing me to test my patience and resilience. Although, I did think that I would be in my own place by now.

I’m also finding out pretty quickly that the SA real estate market is a fickle, ultra-competitive and ruthless game of chess mixed in with a dash of smoke and mirrors for good measure and I thought the music business was bad when it came to game playing.

Try buying a house at the moment.

In an earlier post I did write about my initial thoughts of life in Goolwa and how different it is to living in Adelaide. 

Now that six months have passed, the novelty of the move has most certainly worn off but I still really appreciate the slower pace and the general sense of peace and serenity that comes with living down here because after all, Goolwa is Australia’s first Cittaslow town. 

“What the hell does that mean?” I hear you ask. Click here to find out.

With any situation that you find yourself in whether it be where you live, the relationships you’re in or the job you work at, there are always good and bad points to experience along the way. 

It’s so very easy to find fault when you’re in a temporary situation such as mine but really, when I look at where I’m at right now, right at this very moment… I’m pretty lucky.

I’m lucky because I have the luxury of time to really seek out the best place to start the next part of my journey from and there’s so much potential ahead of me, I just can’t wait to get there.

That is what I focus on when I start feeling frustrated or doubting whether I made the right decision. In the meantime, if any of you local readers are selling a house in the vicinity of Sellicks Beach to Goolwa or, know of anyone who is… Let me know.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

(PS: Yesterday was also the 17th anniversary of the day that Mara and I first met but I’ll save that for another post)

BloggingWriting

Now’s The Time To Redefine, Refocus And Repurpose My Writing

Posted on by Corey Stewart

As you may know, besides this blog, Corey Stewart Online, I have a number of other blogs that I try to manage.

These blogs deal with topics such as songwriting, the music business, home recording and spirituality but with everything that has been going on in my life over the past six months or so, these blogs have not been getting the attention that they should.

I have been really wanting to start writing again but it has been a real struggle to do so of late because every time I come up with an idea for one of my blog posts whether it be of a personal nature or about songwriting, the music business, home recording or even spiritual topics such as meditation or buddhism itself, I immediately get stuck.

I get stuck because as soon as I start to write questions start flowing through my head such as…

  • “Is what I’m writing about going to be on-topic for the blog I’m writing for?”
  • “Is what I’m writing about relating to the last thing I wrote about?”
  • “Am I jumping around topics too much?”
  • “Am I relevant or important enough to share this information with the world?”
  • “Is this idea going to be good enough to share?”

These questions, assumptions and statements that my inner voice shouts at me before putting pen to paper simply paralyses me and I get so exhausted from all of the overthinking.

Initially, I would let it go and think to myself that everything will be alright. I was confident that this was a temporary thing and that my writing flow would come back.

Except that it hasn’t.

Over and over again I would just keep talking myself out of starting but I think I may have come up with a solution to my problem.

It seems that in my attempt to separate all of the different facets of my life into different niche blogs, I have instead created the perfect environment to not write by paralysing my writing process through having too many blogs to write for.

Phew… So how do I remedy this?

Well, I think the answer is to distil all of my content into one blog (this one) and get rid of everything else.

I know this sounds drastic and it smacks of me doing my “wiping the slate clean and starting again” routine again but I don’t really know what else I can do.

Of course I’ll be saving all the content that I’ve already created/curated on my other blogs and will be drip feeding them into Corey Stewart Online. My hope is that by doing this will free myself to refocus on my writing.

The challenge now becomes finding a way to make all of the condensed content make sense within the Corey Stewart Online framework and I think the answer to the challenge lies with redefining what this site is.

I tried to do this very thing a few years ago but I got scared and separated everything again based on the assumption that not doing so would confuse the reader by having too many topics to read about on one blog.

This time, it will be different because I no longer care about Google algorithms and online marketing theories about niche blogs and monetising content. I just want to write again, get a flow happening and deal with all of the other stuff later.

I’m much more interested in reconnecting with people online, building a community, a tribe of people who “get me, my music and everything else in between” and I want to start re-examining my life again through documenting it online, Socrates style.

So, what happens next?

I will back up all of my content on my other blogs and then delete the sites and the social media attached to them.

After that I’ll transfer/repurpose the content onto Corey Stewart Online while at the same time, start writing new content with the knowledge that the only choice for publishing my thoughts, feelings, theories, rants and music is right here, right now.

I’m feeling excited and daunted all at the same time but at the end of the day my sanity, my sense of purpose and my creative flow will be the winners out of all this but that means that you dear reader will have a lot more things to consume.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

Live Music

My Return To Playing Live Gigs Again

Posted on by Corey Stewart

My decision to sell up and move down to the Fleurieu a few months ago has given me some time to think about getting back into regular live performance again (whether it be with covers and/or originals) and how I would go about making it happen.

Part of me is pushing for this to happen because of the extra income stream that it will generate for myself but for the most part… I actually miss playing live now.

I know I have been talking about getting back on the live performance bike for a while now but it has only been very recently that the idea of playing live gigs has not repulsed me as it once did.

This is because I have found from personal experience (and from some pretty intense conversations from others) that the music scene and the audiences “down South” are better to play to, are much more attentive and there’s a lot more venues that are willing to take a punt with putting live music into their mix.

How many of these venues are booking directly rather than using agents are yet to be seen but the music scene on the Fleurieu is like uncharted waters, a voyage of discovery for me and THAT is the exciting part.

I’m sure that there are venues out there just waiting for someone different to come along and add their unique flavour and vibe to the music scene down there.

Of course, I’ll still be going to Adelaide for gigs but I’ll not be making the same mistake as before of trying to play anywhere and everywhere for everyone, preferring to hang down south a bit more and keep to my areas of choice.

In preparation for this, I’ve just recently put up my bio on the site as well as a downloadable PDF that can be used for future reference. I also have links to my Online Acoustic Demo on SoundCloud as well as links to my Seeing Stars CD. 

All I’ve got to do now is start shopping myself around again, getting myself acquainted with who and what is out there, the venues, the bookers, the agents and the businesses that can make my goal of getting back to regular live performance a reality.

If any of you know of any live performance opportunities that I should seriously have a look at then hit me up and let’s chat about it.

In the meantime, have a great week.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

COVID

Catching COVID: It’s A Matter Of If Rather Than When

Posted on by Corey Stewart

Yes, that’s right… Today I have tested positive to contracting COVID-19 and therefore I will be isolating for the next 7 days.

Actually, Mum and I tested positive this morning while Dad tested positive last Sunday.

My symptoms are almost exactly like a bad head cold except for the fact that I can’t taste or smell anything which is really weird. I do have a strange metallic aftertaste when drinking fluids but that’s about it.

Since Dad tested positive last Sunday, I had been classed as a close contact which meant I could go out in public but I needed to wear a facemask which was of no real concern for me.

Now, I’m housebound for 7 days and I can’t go anywhere which is a bit of a shame as I had some house inspections to go to this weekend. Other than that it’s pretty much business as usual.

I was trying to work out how Dad managed to contract COVID-19 and I reckon it was when both Mum and Dad went to the local footy the day before his test results.

Anyways, to anyone who I had to cancel appointments or meetings with, my apologies. I’ll get back in contact with you once I’m on the other side of this.

For everyone else, I suppose this 7 day isolation will give some time to do more songwriting, more practice and catch up on some things that I have procrastinated on for a while.

In the meantime, have a great weekend and catch you all on the flipside.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

LifeMoving House

Today Is The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life

Posted on by Corey Stewart

Well, it’s all done and dusted. The house is sold and I’m slowly but surely getting myself acclimated to life down on the Southern Fleurieu. 

I moved down to Goolwa last Wednesday (March 23rd) to my parents place initially with the view of finding my own place down this way and I’ve got to say, life in Goolwa is much different to living in Adelaide.

Firstly, the pace of life is so much slower. 

I’ve already been trying to slow down my life a bit since Mara passed away so the change in pace is not that much of a shock but I can imagine that for someone who has come straight from inner city Adelaide life, the pace of Goolwa would be a bit of a culture shock.

Secondly, I’ve been sleeping like a log.

This is amazing considering that I have had so much trouble with my sleeping patterns since… I can’t remember when but ever since I’ve moved down to Goolwa I have been going to bed earlier and getting up earlier and pretty much sleeping straight through the night.

I think no longer having the sale of the house on my mind has a lot to do with my newly found sleep but I think another reason might be that the air is much cleaner down in Goolwa. I’m not sure why that would make such a difference but to me it does.

Thirdly, the overall ambience is much quieter. 

This is because there’s not as many cars on the road, not as many people around and the location of where I’m staying is a little further away from the centre of Goolwa so not as many houses around either. 

This certainly contributes greatly to the reduction in my stress levels and my ability to just be present

Lastly… I can see the stars.

With the lack of the type of infrastructure that gives off light pollution at night, I can see a lot more stars in the sky than I ever could living in Adelaide. Granted, the numbers are less than if I was in the Flinders Ranges but what I currently see above my head still fills me with wonder.

Night time is… Dark. The way it’s meant to be and again, this is another reason why I’m sleeping so well I suppose.

Today I was able to set up my working environment hence why you’re reading this blog post. I’ve almost finished setting up the temporary recording studio and when that’s all done I can start recording music again, something I haven’t been able to do for about three months or so.

Man, I’ve really missed making music.

Once that is all done, the last piece of the puzzle is for me to find my own place so I can finally start moving forward again, living my own life while at the same time, carrying on Mara’s memory and legacy close to my heart.

I remind myself that today is the first day of the rest of my life and I intend to grab onto it and hold on for dear life with a steely determination to not waste one iota of the experience.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

The Synchronicity Police

Introducing… Songs In The Key Of STING

Posted on by Corey Stewart

For many years now I have had the pleasure of performing in Australia’s Premier Police Tribute band The Synchronicity Police. 

With Dave Branton on drums, Greg Adamopoulos on guitar and yours truly on vocals and bass we have played many shows spanning from pubs, clubs, casinos, large auditoriums, festivals and a few Adelaide Fringes in our time, and this year is no different…

But, there is a twist.

Instead of playing the songs of The Police in all of their rock and punk/reggae glory, we’re going to be adding some songs from Sing’s solo catalogue and performing them in a 5 piece band UNPLUGGED!

Yes, The Synchronicity Police present Songs In The Key Of Sting recreating the classic Police hits and songs from Sting’s solo career in an intimate, unplugged 70 minute live show. 

This show has been put together exclusively for the 2022 Adelaide Fringe and if it works (of course it will) I for one would want to be taking this unplugged concept as far as it will go.

The lineup for the show is as follows…

  • Corey Stewart – Bass, Vocals
  • Greg Adamopoulos – Acoustic Guitar
  • Dave Branton – Drums, Percussion
  • Victor Oria – Keyboards
  • Robert Williams – Trumpet 

We are rehearsing for the event at the moment and it’s sounding AWESOME! I cannot wait to bring this show to you all.

Songs In The Key Of Sting will be performed at the Goodwood Theatre @ The GC which is located at 166 Goodwood Road, Goodwood for ONE SHOW ONLY on Tuesday March 8th at 9pm.

Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at the 2022 Adelaide Fringe website. This show is a must for all Police and Sting fans and I would love to see you all there.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

Adelaide FringeMusicSoul Trader

Introducing… Soul Trader

Posted on by Corey Stewart

Musically, 2022 is going to be a busy year for me and it all starts off with a swag of gigs at the Adelaide Fringe Festival so with that in mind, allow me to introduce you all to… Soul Trader.

Soul Trader is a duo consisting of myself and good friend and songwriting partner Simon James Betts and we have four gigs at the Adelaide Fringe starting from Sunday, February 27th at 7:00pm.

Even though it may seem that this is a new venture for me… It actually isn’t.

Soul Trader was initially created way back in around 2003 when Simon and I met each other at an Open Mic  held at the Hyde Park Tavern which was run by my musical partner in crime Darren Zaza.

Simon had already released a CD and had his own material but we joined forces and started writing songs together which in turn translated into performing many shows which then culminated in the release of our 2006 CD titled Pre-Cursor.

After the release of the CD, I left Soul Trader (the reasons in which I’ll go into more detail at a later time) and Simon continued on performing under that name as a solo artist. We did however, continue to write songs together during my time away.

Now, fast forward to 2021 and Simon and I started the Soul Trader Podcast and from there the concept of getting Soul Trader back together as a duo again seemed like the natural thing to do and let me tell you, it sounds like we’ve never been apart.

The songs, the harmonies, the camaraderie, it’s all there and I’m enjoying every bit of it even though it’s the second time around and as for the Fringe shows…

What a way to (re)launch a project such as Soul Trader.

Just to give you an idea of what to expect, here is the blurb taken from the 2022 Adelaide Fringe program

It’s official, Adelaide’s best kept secret is out.

Soul Trader is back as a duo, and ready to serve you an acoustic pop rock feast of fresh original music.

This is the most dynamic duo in the history of dynamic duos, this is not Batman & Robin, this is Batman & Batman. Two powerful singer songwriters coming together to deliver something special.

In an industry flooded with looping pedals and Autotune, Soul Trader is like a delicious home cooked meal in a world of fast food.

With pristine harmonies and guitars pounding out the rhythm, Simon James Betts and Corey Stewart deliver wonderfully crafted songs with energy, cheek, polish and passion.

This will be a night your ears will thank you for a long time to come, so sit down, hang on and experience the aural ride of your life.

Sounds pretty good to me if I say so myself.

As a reminder, the Soul Trader shows at the 2022 Adelaide Fringe are as follows:

Where: 

The Garage International @ Adelaide Town Hall

When: 

  • Sunday February 27th
  • Sunday March 6th
  • Tuesday March 15th
  • Wednesday March 16th

Tickets are $25 ($20 concession) and are available at the 2022 Adelaide Fringe website.

So if you want to catch some great songwriting performed by two likeable guys who harmonise beautifully with each other then Soul Trader (The Duo) is the show for you.

Post Adelaide Fringe plans consist of experimenting with regular live streaming as well as hitting the festival circuit, playing support shows, touring UK and Europe plus… organising House Concerts.

“What’s a house concert?” I hear you ask. Well, watch this space and I’ll let you know soon enough. In the meantime, check out the links above and I hope to see you at one of our Fringe shows.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

LifeMaraMoving House

And So… A New Chapter Is About To Begin

Posted on by Corey Stewart

Ok, I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell you all this but… I’m just going to get straight to the point.

I’ve decided that the time has come for me to pack up my things, sell the house and move down South around the Fleurieu Peninsula somewhere from a line due East from Moana to McLaren Flat all the way down to Goolwa.

This move will enable me to be first and foremost, closer to my family (who live in Goolwa and Mount Compass) plus, it will enable me to take a step closer to living in an environment where I can live the life that I want to live…

A slow, steady, simple and silent life. 

I’ve signed all of the necessary contracts which have instructed Harris Real Estate to sell the house and its hoped that things will be finalised around the end of January/beginning of February 2022.

So what does this all mean?

Well, besides having a different home and delivery address and maybe some more phone conversations or online chats via Skype or Zoom, nothing else will need to change as I’m only moving an extra 60-90 minutes away from Adelaide at the most. 

Of course, I’ll make my way to Adelaide at least once a week to meet up with clients and/or to catch up with friends and remember, there will always be a place to stay for anyone who trundles down my neck of the woods.

Most importantly though, I’ll be pulling up stumps on a life that was mostly defined by the partnership between Mara and I but now, with Mara gone, I now have to move forward with my life. This was inevitable whether it be now or later.

The fact is that the home that Mara and I had built together in Dudley Park since 2012 (yes, almost 10 years now) is now just a house that will now always have something missing in it, something that will constantly remind me of all the negative aspects of the last few years so, the time was right to make the move.

I also know that Charlie is going to have more room to run around and be a dog in rather than being either cooped up inside or navigating a tiny backyard plus, I’ll also have more studio/office space to expand SongMachine and ZenWeb into as that will be one of my requirements for the next house.

The more I get used to the concept of moving my life away from the city, the more I realise that this is what I must do and as I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, one of the main lessons I’ve learned is that life is all about letting go.

I would say that this decision to move down South is the best example of me letting go of something which doesn’t serve a purpose for me anymore that I can think of.

And I’m totally fine with that.

This decision was actually something Mara and I had spoken about on a number of occasions to the point where we had decided it was going to become an eventuality.

I’m so glad that I’m able to take Mara’s memory with me as I know she will love the change in scenery.

Right now, I’m working in a somewhat limited capacity on my laptop as the studio and office computers have been packed away. I’m still able to work but it might take a little longer to get things done but this will be just a temporary inconvenience.

As I’ve only just made the decision and started the process, I really have nothing else to report as yet but I can say that I don’t know where I’ll end up but I do know that there’s a place out there with my name on it. 

All I have to do is have the trust in myself that I’ll find it.

Personally, it’s all very exciting and terrifying at the same time but I know that Mara is there with me in spirit cheering me on from wherever she is and like me, looking forward to what the next chapter will bring.

All I can say is “Watch this space…” 

Peace,

Corey 🙂

2022Life

In Life: Slow, Steady, Simple And Silent Wins The Race

Posted on by Corey Stewart

In my last post I mentioned that 2021 was for me… “a year to consolidate my emotions and redefine my sense of meaning and purpose in life.” 

In reflection, one of the things that I realised was the way I was living my life currently was not doing me, my creativity and my health any good at all. 

So, in order to make the necessary changes needed to remedy this, I’ve decided that the way I want to live my life from now on is slow, steady, simple and silent.

Well, what does that really mean? 

A core fundamental belief of mine is that there is no “THE meaning of life” but “A meaning of life” therefore any meaning I have for my life is one that I create and insert into my existence rather than something external that I use my existence to find.

With that being said, here are my reasons for wanting to change my life and live in this way.

Slow 

First of all, there is a reason why the term “rat race” exists. Life seems to be one big rush from one event to another without taking into consideration why the rush is happening in the first place.

We as a society have been duped into believing that the world is a fast paced, busy place and only the fastest, busiest and most ruthless with their time and energy will survive it. 

This has permeated into the toxic world of “hustle culture” exemplified by people such as Gary Vaynerchuk for instance.

I’ve known for a long time that I’ve needed to slow my life down and find a way to get myself off of this perpetual hamster wheel that I (and everyone else in the world for that matter) find myself on at the moment.

By slowing down my life I am able to live my life the way I want to live it, work the way I want to work it and relax in the way that I want to relax. 

Steady

Since Mara passed away, I have gone through a rollercoaster of emotions which have had profound effects on my life in both good and bad ways.

The bad way was that for a period of time I just gave up and let myself go through my grief and got very sick which tipped my body over the edge into Type 2 Diabetes territory. 

The good way was that thankfully the Type 2 diagnosis was the kick up the arse I needed to make the significant changes in my life to where I’m now on my way back to greater mental, physical and spiritual health.

The steady path I wish to take is the middle way of moderation, routine and discipline which I believe are the key factors in me getting on with it and moving forward with my life because with the world the way it is at the moment, it’s so very easy to be put off your centre these days. 

The world around us offers many temptations and distractions all designed to make you become more susceptible to advertising and the prevailing narrative of the times through the various media that we all consume.

Simple

One of my main aims of 2022 is to simplify my life and distill who and what I am into the smallest possible footprint that I can operate in. 

As I mentioned in another blog post, what I want to be essentially doing is getting rid of the things that I don’t need and for me to keep the things that I really do need, the things that will serve my purposes the best.

For example, as a musician I, like most other musicians, suffer from a bit of GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) and because of this I have accumulated a bit of gear that for some of them, I need to find good homes for. 

I know that what I don’t need anymore can be more useful to somebody else so I’m very comfortable doing that.

Simplifying, decluttering, minimalising, whatever you want to call it, is a really essential part of moving forward.

The more simple I make my life, the more time I can devote to what matters to me most, the less margins of error I need to navigate and the less (unnecessary) choices that I need to make.

I’ve been known to overthink things from time to time and because of this I suffer from analysis paralysis on an almost daily basis. Making a choice, moving forward and taking action on it can be a real challenge. 

I know that I need to be clear in my focus and intention, to be decisive with my choices and to take action on those choices with methodical determination. I believe that living a more simple life will help me greatly.

Silent

NO! It doesn’t mean that I’m not going to play music anymore as that’s not the kind of silence I’m talking about.

What I really mean is creating a life in which I can eliminate the unnecessary noise and chatter that happens inside my head and THAT is what I want to eliminate from my life, because as the old saying goes…

“Silence is golden.”

Even though I have gone through some massive life changes of late, internally the monkey inside my head is well and truly active. 

I am getting better at silencing the chatter but I know full well that this is a full time job that will take the rest of my life (and perhaps a future lifetime or two) to master.

As I’ve mentioned before, I can have some issues with overthinking and placing myself in a quieter environment with less distractions will go a long way in helping me to give my inner monkey an extended holiday.

So in conclusion there you have it, my reasons for wanting to live a slow, steady, simple and silent life. 

It’s my hope that by doing this I can create a healthier, more creative and spiritually fulfilled existence for myself and that my creative output from now on, can be the major benefactor of these changes.

Wish me luck and watch this space…

Peace,

Corey 🙂