First big decision has been to rename the album to Indelible Mark.  A lot of the songs relate to people or moment that have left a large mark in my life.  I’ve always believed that any kind of moment is a chance to create an impression, imprint or mark on someone or something.  If you think about it, even this post leaves a slight impression on the reader.

When I thought about this concept many years ago it started me thinking about ways to create positive indelible marks on those around me.  I’m not always successful.

So the album is called Indelible Mark.

In any event, I have it back and it sounds great. I recorded a tribute to Mike Grime who helped me get back into music a number for years ago. The song is fantastic and I’ve shared it with his widow who I promised will hear it first. God I hope she likes it.

Admittedly my introduction has been a second hand 15 watt amp head but man oh man is it awesome.

So, the problem I face is, how best to record this amp through a quad box?

I want a full sound with no compromise and can record with 2 or more microphones….

Led me your tips or ideas…. I prefer the unconventional……

There is a lot of content to draw upon in my life at the moment and I’m conscious of the album being all about 1 or 2 themes.

The good news is that my guitar playing is creating some interesting riffs and recording.  Thankfully some things are coming a little easier.

Check out samples in my My Music section and let me know what you think.

Firstly, banking has a 200 year legacy that it has to contend with.  All the rules, policies and systems (not just the technical ones) get in the way of simplicity.  There are laws, regulators and whilst important they add to the complexity.

The second reason is people.  I do not believe that people want complexity however when you get add the perspectives each person has to a process, product or service it accumulates the properties of those perspectives and with these properties adds complexity.

Complexity, the enemy of modern life is bound by laws which are irrefutable.  The properties of legacy and multiple human perspectives add to it.

As my enemy I respect that legacy in all it’s forms has good and bad and that people, with training, inspiration and insight can change.

People also need examples and role models and my company has delivered a role model, imperfect as it is, 72 hours ago.  Check it out.

“A newly-retired executive takes a job as an adjunct professor and really shakes things up. Both the school and the students are blown away by her fresh thinking and new approaches.

A forty-year old internet executive who has been running his company for decades misses one new trend after another, because he’s still living in 1998.

One thing that happens to management when they get senior is that they get stuck. (As we saw with the new professor, senior isn’t about old, it’s about how long you’ve been there).

If you’ve been doing it forever, you discover (but may not realize) that the things that got you this power are no longer dependable.

Reliance on the tried and true can backfire (Rupert keeps missing one opportunity after another, and keeps misunderstanding the medium he works in) or it can (rarely) pay off (Steve Jobs keeps repeating the same business model again and again–it’s not an accident that Apple has no real online or social media footprint. Steve believes in beautifully designed objects, closed systems and evangelizing to developers and creatives).

Worth quoting–one of Arthur C. Clarke’s lesser known three laws:  “When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong.”

The paradox is that by the time you get to be senior, the decisions that matter the most are the ones that would be best made made by people who are junior…”

At times however, customers really don’t know what they are asking for.

For example, it’s clear that mobile services are on the rise and customers are clearly choosing between two major handset and operating system manufacturers.  Apple and Google are going to fight it out for a while to come. Many customers and stakeholders that I currently serve are asking for Banking services on Android and on the surface of this request it is reasonable.  However, there is tonnes of literature on the internet that suggests that Android is a platform that is good for developers to get apps out to potential customers and the “App Store” is less tough to deal with than Apple’s version.

This concerns me as I’ve first hand experienced the Apple App Store approval process and it’s definitely tough on the developer in the interests of the consumer.  This generally means more stable and safe handsets as an outcome.

If I said to customers that we could give you a banking experience on the Android platform that was great however cannot guarantee the security due to potentially malicious code from other apps I expect they wouldn’t mind us working a little hard and longer to make sure the security is the best it can be.

After all, it’s their money and my clients responsibility to protect it above all else.

A little over two years ago I and a few others saw a wave of change coming in financial services. We saw that people would soon expect to do the basics on their mobile phones.

Mobile phones have become a lot more capable over the past few years and we saw the wave coming.

Around that time I had a care melt down and lost focus on this opportunity. About ten months ago I was given a second chance at getting an exceptional team together to design it and I’m please with the result.mnit was worth waiting for.

In a short while, it will be in your hands and I hope we met your increasing expectations of what a mobile banking experience is.

Severity Zero was started four years ago as a platform for “playing with some work mates” at events work sponsored.

We did some amazing gigs at Melbourne iconic venues, the Forum, Taxi, Melbourne Aquatic Centre and The Mordern Melbourne Museum to name the ALL.  Ahh the joys of being in a very very very large company.

The membership of Sev Zero has changed dramatically over the years and one of our founders, Mike Grime, passed away a couple of years ago while only 2 years into retirement.  Mike was in his early sixties when our youngest member< Elisa was in her early 20′s.  Both are pure gold.

This is Sev Zero, a continuum of music related mayhem.

Later in 2008 we broke up the band due to what could largely be described as muscial differences however I’m confident that there was more to it.  Drummer was building a house, lead singer started dating the new bass player and new bass player was trying to have too much influence over the set list… yadda yadda yadda.  In the wash up I realise that it became WORK not PLAY and so I, sadly, resigned to it’s death.

Resurrection happend tonight when two members played acoustically at the Elwood Lounge open mic in Melbourne.  We had the biggest crowd reaction (prior to 10pm when I left) and filled when an act turned up late.  It was our baptism into stripped back music and entertainment and we loved it.  No sad originals, just balls out covers, acoustically.

Virginia Matthews, our singer, rocked with soul.  I, tried to not look stupid and strummed in time.

Bottom line is, we lost our acoustic duo viginity and are hungry for more.

Open mic nights in Melbourne, LOOK OUT!