Well all good things have to come to an end – the last episode of Salopian Mixtape’s current series dropped yesterday and it made me think of how grateful I am to Simon and Michaela for making Adélie the Release of The Series. I thought I would look back at the last seven episodes and five months that this series has spanned.
Category: Adelie
The Penguin of The Series: Looking back at Adélie as The Salopian Mixtape’s Local Release of The Series
5th December 2024: Episode 1 (A New Series and The Shed Mixtape #2)
Simon and Michaela launch the new series off at Nerdy and announce Adélie as Local Release of The Series, playing Take Me Back off the album. They also made it possible for me to stock my CDs at my first retail stockists – Tubeway 2 in Bridgnorth and in Spinning Around Records in Wellington.
11th December 2024
Adélie gets 200 streams on Spotify, undoubtedly due in part to The Salopian Mixtape.
20th December 2024: Episode 2 (Merry Christmas)
A Christmas and New Year special! I get to talk a bit about myself, the name and my musical origins. Hurts Every Time is the second track to be played.
24th January 2025: Episode 3 (Adult Play, Ez. Rowan Lawson and more!)
The first one of 2025! Sweet Music is played and Simon creates the legendary LROTS jingle.
28th February 2025: Episode 4 (Love and Hip Hop)
The Valantine’s Day episode, Simon rides solo and presents it from Albert’s Shed Southwater for their next Albert’s Mixtape. A bit about the recording process of the album from me and the soundscape from Fisherman’s Story is explained just before the track is played.
20 March 2025: Episode 5 (Left to Reign, sicky, and The Raging Mabels)
Michaela returns, turns into Kenny from South Park and tries to convert Simon to her new hoodie cult. The very first track off the album, Rocks and Stones, gets played and I natter about the album name, the reason for recording it and a sneaky advert for Shrewsbury Songwriters and my next album. Simon gets the pronunciation of the album right by reminiscing about his friend Kelly. The album is not yet available from Sainsbury’s but we live in hope…
1st April 2025
Adélie gets over 350 Spotify streams, with You’ll Never Be Gone at top place with 71 streams. Definitely not an April Fools prank… I think.
7th April 2025: Episode 6 (An Indie Albert’s Mixtape)
The penultimate episode. Simon and Micheala get stuck in a drum machine. You’ll Never Be Gone is appropriately played, as a few days before I performed it with Two Black Pages live for the first time. The incredible release-ready LROTS jingle is unveiled. I chat about the tracks on the album and adding different harmonies.
29th April 2025: Episode 7 (A Riot Grrrl Albert’s Mixtape)
The final episode of the series. Simon tweaks his masterpiece. Very sad news about Tubeway 2. We all get excited for LoopFest 2025 and Micheala creates a new jingle for the next two special episodes. I show my incredible maths skills by revealing my favourite three tracks rather than the one I was asked for. Campervan marks the end of a very happy series for me, so I’ll be grabbing my tissues and leaving now in my campervan…
Thank you…
Thank you so much to Simon and Micheala for choosing Adélie to be their Release of The Series. This was a very important album for me, being the first “proper” one I had released. Rockhopper was a University project and piece of work and because of the timescale and circumstances I was limited to what I could do with it. With Adélie, I had time to write and record exactly what I wanted and was also the first one that heavily featured my songs, most written in the last year or two. Add on top of that the fact that this was my first foray into mixing my own album, so I was really nervous about how it would be received. When I was told the album had been chosen by The Salopian Mixtape, it gave me a confidence that, OK, this album might not be total rubbish.
Thank you as well to all the people who have listened to the album, whether through The Salopian Mixtape or elsewhere. The fact that people are listening to Adélie means so much to me.
I am really excited for the upcoming LoopFest special episodes and also playing at LoopFest myself for the third time in a row. It is such a special festival that brings together both the town and artists from across all the musical genres. In short – it is a festival for everyone, very much like The Salopian Mixtape.
Adélie Released – The Fortnight After
Adélie Is Released!
So my second album Adélie has now been released for just under two weeks (how time flies!) and it’s been a really great rollercoaster – one of those ones where you have a huge amount of fun, then get slightly terrified, then want to get back on the moment it comes to an end (ah Flambards, how I’ll miss you…) A load of things have happened in that short space of time, so I thought I’d summarise them all in this here blog post.
Where to Find The Album
Salopian Mixtape's Album of The Series
I am absolutely overjoyed to say that Adélie has been chosen to be their “Album of The Series” for series 4. Every week of the series, a track from Adélie will be played and there will be a few “behind the album” snippets, with a few things you might not know about me or the album. You can catch Michaela Wylde and Simon Berry’s podcast by searching your favourite podcast plaform for The Salopian Mixtape and you can learn more by visiting www.thesalopianmixtape.com
First Retail Stockists
As well as Adélie getting played every week of the Salopian Mixtape’s series 4, the album has also been featured in two wonderful local Shropshire record stores – Spinning Around Records is Wellington and Tubeway Records 2 in my birthtown of Bridgnorth. The album is available to purchase at both stores and it is so wonderful to have this first for me so close to home.
First Adélie Review - Igloo Hearts
‘Adelie’ is a true musical treasure trove, beautifully arranged. Matt’s exceptional songwriting shines through, evoking a range of emotions across the tracks. ‘Hurts Every Time’ pulls at the heartstrings with its rich string arrangement, while ‘Campervan’ features a stunning melody and clever percussion. The closing track, ‘The Fisherman’s Story’, is a little nugget of loveliness that gives you goosebumps from start to finish. Brilliant work from Quantum Penguin!
Adélie Launch at Alberts Shed
The album launch of Adélie at Albert’s Shed (Shrewsbury) on the 24th of November was wonderful! We had brilliant performances from Mountain Hares and Two Blank Pages, I dusted-off my MC-ing hat, which I hadn’t worn since introduing acts at the Falmouth University student society Fern Sessions (I was quite, quite terrified!) and I played several songs off Adélie AND the next album! The audience was so supportive and we also managed to raise a good amount for the Save The Hive campaign, helped by very generous donations by both audience members and the supporting bands (and I!) donating our performance fees from Albert’s Shed. The fundraiser is still live, so if you would like to support this brilliant arts centre, you can donate by visiting the launch’s JustGiving page.
We managed to raise
£226!
For
Update on Adélie Album, Steep Learning Curves, Songwriting Bronze Medal and Reveal of Album Launch Date
Adelie Mixing
I was looking back on the Adélie album log today and realised how long it had been since an update – March to be exact! A lot has happened between now and then but essentially I decided to mix the album myself.
I had never done anything like this so it was a very steep learning curve! After a few false starts (and some despairing!) I finally began a couple of weeks ago. I had bought a short online course to help me along and it really helped me learn the basics and get to grips with the tracks.
Throughout the two weeks, I started to learn what things I liked (or didn’t) on each instrument and, because I obviously wanted a Folky sound, I tried not to fiddle (pun intended!) too much with EQ-ing, effects etc. (although I do really like reverb, so that features quite a bit!), prefering a raw sound for the album. There were several things that suprised me, including the very rich, bassy sound that the Chin-Cello was able to acheive on the tracks, the way some instruments sound very different when played solo VS in the mix with the rest of the instruments, and how you can use different takes of vocals of a line and combine them to make a very full-sounding main vocals!
I did what you are not supposed to do and used headphones to start the mixing off, later using studio monitors to help rebalance and make sure the tracks were going to sound right across other listening methods. The headphones meant that I was able to take the mixing with me into coffee shops, which really helped to give me some brain-space and a different working environment.
Mixing this album myself has been a really valuable experience for me and gives me complete creative control of how the tracks are going to sound. I really can’t wait to share Adélie with you all!
Adélie Release Date and Album Launch
Now that the mixing process has been completed, I have been able to set the release date for the album. I am also having an album launch at Albert’s Shed in Shrewsbury to celebrate the release of Adélie. Lots more details to come but I am so excited about some of the ideas that have been floated.
The day of the release and album launch is 24th November at Albert’s Shed, Shrewsbury
Make sure to save the date to come and join in the celebrations with me!
Songwriting Bronze Medal
A few months ago, I saw that Lichfield Festival of Folk were running their songwriting competition and I thought “why not enter one, it can’t hurt and it doesn’t matter if I don’t get anywhere with it”. So I entered This Gift, my song about the preciousness of the countryside and the importance of preserving it for future generations to come and didn’t expect to hear anything else about it.
A few weeks later, I received an email telling me I was one of the six finalists and I was shocked and delighted at the same time, thinking that I wouldn’t get any further and was very pleased to get that far.
A few weeks after that, I got a phone call from Lichfield FF to say that I had won third place (bronze medal, if you prefer) in a very tight contest and that they would like me to perform at the festival on the 5th of October, as well as attend a songwriting workshop run by the legendary John Tams next year! As you would imagine, I was absolutely overjoyed and totally speechless. I would also be sharing a stage with The Magpies, who I love and really enjoyed their performance at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival earlier this year.
This has been such a wonderful and unexpected treat and I am so looking forward to performing and going to the festival on the 5th of October.
Listen to my submission here: https://soundcloud.com/quantumpenguin/matthew-woolley-entry-to
And find out more about Lichfield Festival of Folk here: https://lichfieldarts.org.uk/the-lichfield-festival-of-folk/
Upcoming Gigs
5th October: Lichfield Festival of Folk
16th October: Bristol Folk House Cafe
21st October: Shrewbury Songwriters’ September of Sound Showcase
23rd October: Albert’s Songwriters Showcase with Quantum Penguin and The Mountain Hares
24th November: Adélie Album Launch
Adélie – Influences on The Album
While thinking about how I want each individual track to sound and what types of harmonies etc. to add, I have been going through lots of my favourite artists and music. My tastes are (very) broad, so not all of them influenced the songs on Adélie directly but they have formed the way I listen to, enjoy and make my music. So while I record my temp tracks for my album, here are four of the biggest influences on the pieces included in Adélie.
Nic Jones
Website: www.nicjones.net
Nic Jones’ unique and beautiful guitar playing has inspired so many guitar players in so many different styles and genres. Along with Jessie Reid, his playing inspired me to start using DADGAD tuning on my guitar, which is now the main tuning I use. His style uses a combination of chords and melody while singing, which has greatly influenced my newer music.
Phil Beer
Phil Beer was one of my earliest musical influences, seeing his Fiddle playing from a young age at Folk festivals such as Bridgnorth/Shrewsbury, Bromyard and Sidmouth. His adaptability of playing style was something in particular that I really loved, playing a slow, beautiful tune for a song, such as Innocents’ Song / Gwithian, then the next switching to a high-energy reel, like The Falmouth Packet. Much of my Fiddle style has much to thank Beer for – I still live in hope that one day I will be able to sing whilst playing the Fiddle as well as he does!
Website: www.philbeer.co.uk
Jessie Reid
Website: jessiereidmusic.bandcamp.com
During lockdown, I used to listen to the BBC Introducing Shropshire radio programme every week, enjoying listening to new music from local artists that I hadn’t heard of before. I was listening one week and on came a song called Time Goes By from fellow Salopian Jessie Reid and I was hooked! Her amazing DADGAD guitar playing, featuring lap Guitar and so many different techniques, as well as with her beautiful songwriting lyrics and melodies really inspired me to try a different guitar tuning and helped me try new ways of writing.
The Haar
I remember seeing The Haar at Shrewsbury Folk Festival in 2022 and thinking that their mix of driving, beautiful vocals with the harmony of the instruments worked so, so well. The way they were able to get the stories of the songs across while also making a beautiful piece of music was very inspirational to me, showing that you did not have to compromise on the music to get a song’s message across.
Website: thehaar.ie
The Adélie Album Log
Welcome to The Adelie Album (b)log! Here I’ll be sharing my experience of recording and making the album as I go along, so you can be right alongside me for the journey! Recent updates will be at the top, with older updates at the bottom.
Update 31st October 2024
Adélie is now available to pre-order! The first 3 people that pre-order Adélie will get a FREE Adélie penguin emamel pin worth £12, designed and donated by the brilliant shropshire artist Daffodowndilly. You can pre-order the album here
Update 15th October 2024
I am really excited to announce my album launch with some really incredible support acts!
Update 2nd October 2024
It’s only been a few months since the last update… It might be time for an update.
Update 6th March 2024
While I record my temp tracks for my album, I thought I would share a few artists that have influenced and inspired me during writing and planning the album. You can read it here
Update 3rd March 2024
I’m really excited to announce that I’m going to be recording my second album Adélie in mid-April!
I’ll be working with Sirens Studio, a female-led recording studio in Falmouth, set-up and run by two amazing sound engineers Laura Beard and Willow Collins. You can find out more about them on their website.
The album will introduce several of my newer songs, many written during lockdown, that I have been playing in my gigs for the last year, as well as a few of my older ones reworked and reimagined.