I thought long and hard about this cd title,"Give It Some Stick!" While it has meaning in the UK, it does not in the US where I have been living for the past 22 years. Basically, it means to put effort into the task at hand. I even toyed with the idea of calling this collection of songs"Give It Some Schtick!" as a lot of my writing has humor to it, but it just didn't have that same ring. Plus the reference to"Stick" is an integral lyrical part to a number of the songs. :) Yes and No, dear reader—I know what you're thinking! 8——)Oh-Kay, well, that out the way ... to the music."Give It Some Stick!" is essentially an Artie Q album with guest appearances by my favourite musicians, plus two bonus track collaborations at the end. Though I am in that twilight world between semi pro and pro, there is NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD that I would have chosen to play with me on my music than the musicians involved: Mindmovie, Laurence Whiteley, Aeronaut, Mrs. Q, Claas Reimer & Rainer Struck. All of these musicians are really great at what they do.Apart from the two bonus tracks at the end, these songs are a collection of my beats, music & vocals with their contributions. At best, I am a thoroughly average musician, but their performances kick it up a notch ... or five :) MINDMOVIE: an excellent producer of modern music is a master of the blisteringly wonderful guitar solo with a great ear for melody. (Just listen to his solos on Stick Em Up!/Good Morning and the end solo in Over ...? It's Never Over.) Fantastic, as well as writing the music for Just One More Moment & the song arrangement & guitars in Another Me & You LAURENCE WHITELEY: another fabulous guitar player with a really great ear for harmonies, vocal & musical. He has also the littlest ego of any musician I have ever worked with, allowing me to chop and change his solos and use my"bastardised" samples of his work to build the track, without whine nor whimper. The reason for the dearth of lyric in Over ...? It's Never Over is because his first solo describes emotional torment as good as any well turned word; in fact, it sort of said it all, really ... Hey, I'm surprised I left any of the lyrics in—Hah! He also designed the artwork for the cd.AERONAUT: a truly wonderful composer of melodic orchestration with a penchant for the bittersweet feel of melancholy. In my mind, nobody does this better. His orchestration on Slowly Kissing You Goodbye took this basic pop song into another dimension, and simply made it fragile, beautiful & haunting. A tremendous support for the tenderness of the lyric. MRS. Q: Mrs. Q is a one off; I don't think she fully realises her talent. She has great personality in her playful voice and I can never resist a wistful smile, whether she sings or speaks. (Also, perfect for sampling!) She is a fine flautist, too ... her"Big Stick," of course. :)CLAAS REIMER: A dj/dance dude who I think has not limited himself to that category alone. He has a great mind for organic sounds, really strange & twisted beats & grooves, but always compelling. Ring A Ling is my mix of his original sounds/samples (of our co written track: Psycho Delight) compiled in a more pop format. Nice!RAINER STRUCK: I really like Rainer's solo piano pieces. I don't know if you would call them classical or symphonic. Either way; edgy and melodic. He sent me the original symphonic work that became Another Me & You. The scope of that meandering piece was epic & powerful ... I just had to write some words & melody to it ... erhm, although it did take me six months! ;) ----------------------------------------------------These songs were written at a time when many big issues in my life were to be confronted (and written about in song): This was a real roller coaster of an emotional journey for me. I really hope you enjoy them ... for an artist is not whole until one person, just one person says"You know what ...? That song you wrote/that picture you painted/that book you wrote/that movie you made ... I have felt that." No artist is an island. Hugs to you. RTQ"The way you write lyrics makes me feel like you are undressing in public." - A friend.