Every journey starts with the first step. For Fergus Mashman, the journey to an 11-track saxophone album on Spotify started with 40-second videos on YouTube.
Launching a saxophone album on Spotify is something many sax players dreams of, so how did he do it? Here’s Fergus’s story.
Sharing Saxophone Videos
“I was making short videos where I’d write a backing track and just solo on top of it. I’d find a melody I liked, play around with it, change it up as I’d go. I’d post the videos on social media and all my friends, they were very supportive.”
Those 40-second clips inspired longer compositions that eventually became the songs featured on his debut album, Another Time, a collection of contemporary instrumentals with a subtle movie-score vibe and a hint of folk music that reflects his life in Australia. “I live out near Bathurst, in the countryside. There’s not a lot of people around to start bands with, especially in my age group.”
Recording at Home
That isolation steered “Another Time” into a solo project. Fergus plays both alto and bari sax, laying down occasional drum fills and piano lines. He used the free, online program MuseScore to notate the music and add instrumentation, recording it all in his bedroom. “Setting up was a pretty bit of a struggle. Someone knocking on the door or something. There’s definitely some takes I did which turned out pretty badly.”
While recording was a challenge, Fergus has a harder time describing his sound. “I guess I’d say a bit of contemporary. I’m not sure. Never thought about describing it.” As for influences, he cites bari sax superstars Leo P. and Ronnie Cuber.
Finding Sax School
Writing, performing and recording a solo album is impressive at any age—and even more so when you’re 18 and have only been playing for six years.
“My school had a junior band program. We had a teacher split amongst 30 of us so we just learned on our own, really. There were a lot of community bands and school bands, and I tried to play in as many as I could.”
Fergus wanted to take his playing to the next level, but at the time couldn’t find someone local. That’s when he discovered Sax School. “I started with the YouTube channel first. I liked the tutorials. I saw Nigel had all these different lessons, especially improvising because it was about the time I signed up, I was really starting to get to improvising, and I guess that was the main reason. I found it had lots of things there for me. I have a good teacher now where I live, but I still like Sax School.”
Advice of launching on Spotify
For Sax School members dreaming of their Spotify debut, Fergus has some simple advice. “I think they should just go for it and try it. I think it’s the best way to find out what’s going to happen.”
And as for the critics? “I wouldn’t worry what other people think too much. I was very concerned about being a saxophone player posting around all my friends who like very different types of music. But yeah, most people are on your side when it comes to these things. So if you do it, people will enjoy it and like it. They’ll support you through it. So yeah, go for it.”
“Right now I’m doing the HSC [Higher School Certificate], which is the big, end-of-year-12 exam in Australia. But after that, yeah, there’s so much stuff I want to do. Try out new things and all that. Got new stuff to create and perform. And go to uni next year,” he says, smiling. “Well, hopefully!”
Congratulations to Fergus on launching his first saxophone album on Spotify – we can’t wait to hear about the next project! You can check our “Another Time” here.
If you want to learn saxophone online like Fergus, Start today with Sax School!