By Steve Perrett

Archie McLeod (aka Musically Mr M)

1. How long have you been playing/writing music?

Archie: I have been doing something musical for over 39 years. I was forced into piano at age 5. (I developed a love of the instrument by 17), The piano opened up major avenues for all the other instruments I play. I have been working professionally for 24 years. (That includes performing, writing and arranging as well as teaching.)

2. What is your primary instrument?

Archie:I don't know that I actually have a primary instrument to tell you the truth. If I base it on the time/experience thing, I'd say it was the piano.

I was a woodwind major in college though and the guitar has always been in there someplace. (My secret love affair.)

3. Do you record in a studio? Or do you use a home based set-up?

Arhie:Both. I do quite a bit of studio work for others. I barter personal studio time in exchange for project work sometimes. Most of my personal projects are done in my "own space" (Musically Mr M Studios-my home joint)

4. Tell us about you the songwriter....do you write alone, with others,

etc.?

Archie:Me the songwriter............hmmm. Well, I write a lot from personal experiences and here of late, I write a lot out of necessity. A lot of what I consider "good music" never hits the airwaves now a days-at least not in a meaningful mainstream way. So in order for me to hear things that really touch me emotionally, I write them, perform them myself or with my crew.

Being a writer in general, most all of the vocal things I write start with written word first and the melody follows. Works this way most of the time.

Instrumental things that I do usually come from some motif I'll hear in my head or somewhere in "nature". From that it just grows. Somethings come from spontaneous "jams" with me and the guys. There is no real set approach. Whatever works for the song.

5. Do you play live or is the project for recording only?

Archie: Sure I play live. I play with a couple of groups locally; The Legends Band which does a lot of R&B, Ol'Skool stuff and with Musically Mr M - call that my "house" band. We play much of the kinds of things you hear at my website.

I do a lot of recording expressly for "internet Play". The web is the best vehicle I know to effectively get heard by a lot of people and contrary to popular belief, more A&R people hear you than you think out there on the net. My dream has always been to do a lot of what Iım doing now-playing in studios, playing live in more intimate venues, and I even do church music

too. I get pretty much the exposure I want at a pace that I can handle.

6. Do you start with a finished product in mind or just let it morph as you go?

Archie: 90 percent of the time I let an idea ³develop². The other 10 percent, I

will follow an organized plan. Most of the time, planning creates a very "planned" sound and that's not always good. Spontaneity = great songs.

7. Where does your inspiration come from?

Archie: A lot of my inspiration is from a spiritual place-draws from a lot of life experiences. Life is a big turn on for me and the ability to organize all these thoughts in my head into something that makes musical sense-well

thatıs inspiration within itself. And when others "tap" into what I'm saying musically, well thatıs simply Utopia.

8. Got any funny gig stories?

Archie: Too many to mention. I have had every color, shape and size of panty in the world thrown at me.lol (I even had a very amorous young lady stick a pair of tighty whiteys inside of a bible and give them to me in church!) The most

embarrassing and funny situation that ever happened to me was one night, I did an acoustic guitar set at this club and I walked up on stage, warmed up

my audience, took my seat on a stool on stage under a red spotlight. Everybody's all quiet and as soon as I strummed the opening chord, the stool "exploded"-came apart and I landed very hard on the floor in front of about 100 people. Split my pants and everything. What a way to open a show.

9. Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Archie: Well first and foremost, i hope that Iıll be healthy, wealthier and wiser. I'd love to sell a few of my songs to some mainstream artist. Iıd love to develop my studio to accommodate my growing clientele. We are right here on the I-95 corridor and accessible to everybody. I would love to do some instrumental stuff on Windham Hill or Blue Note. I am in a pretty happy place right now and donıt want to venture too far from it.

10. What is your ultimate goal with your music?

Archie: Simply to get it heard. To evitalize timbres of sound that "BigMusic" is

killing off. I want to simply hear what most musicians want to hear and that is for someone to say, "Hey that guy is really pretty good". That will do it for me. : )