This is a series where different people in the creative world show a few websites, books etc that refills their creative well when it’s running dry or acts as a midwife to ideas. It is not a comprehensive critical analysis of the featured item
 
Ronan Leonard, the creator of this feature, will take the reins for the first edition of it. If you want to contribute your things let us know by emailing them into admin@mutantspace.ie 
 
A little bit about the writer: Ronan Leonard, makes and performs music under a few aliases, hosts his own gameshow Ringo: Music Bingo; runs open mikes, 3 separate DJ nights, operates a bandroom in the city; is a freelance journalist and makes jokebooks. When people asks what he does he quips “self unemployed”, “imagineer or “folk-hero” everytime. He is neither famous nor critically acclaimed since 1999.
  
1) Chandrasonic’s guitar tips
As someone who’s known as an acoustic guitar strumming singer I draw very little inspiration from that field. The music of Asian Dub Foundation challenges me and excites me more than a million scrawny middle class white fellas singing about their suburban problems and clichéd insight.
Chandrasonic here lays down his almost manifesto for using the guitar. www.asiandubfoundation.com/guitartips.html
 
2) Productivity 501
A shared resources site for many self employed or creative workers. Many computer related ideas, as well as workspace management and general ways of processing information, ergo all or any thing that can help towards your own productivity. www.productivity501.com
 
3) Found Magazine
A fantastic site where found notes, pictures and personal memorabilia are sent in by people from all over the world. The most trivial of human things grounds me when I am having an angst ridden, French Poet style, self obsessed day. I hosted them on tour last year and will be doing something bigger with them in Ireland in late 2010 (or so is the plan, so join their mailing list if you like it) www.foundmagazine.com 
 
4) TuneSmith: Inside The Art Of Songwriting
As a songwriter, and much importantly a music fan, “The Art Of Songwriting” is my favouritest tome on the subject. Now I barely understand about a fifth of the book, but it is written by the guy who wrote, MacArthur Park, which is the most ambitious pop song that was ever written, not to mention released. My music is very removed from his output but this is the equivilant of a contemporary artist ignoring the fact Leonardo Da Vinci existed.
www.amazon.com/TuneSmith-Inside-Songwriting-Jimmy-Webb/dp/0786884886
 
5) Hideout Chicago
I think this must be the best Independent Venue (for that I mean non government funded and not owned, wholely or in part by a major corporate structure) in the world. But much more than it’s independence is it’s imaginative and brave bookings and in-house events. Block Parties, Touring Artists doing three day residencies supporting a headline act every night. They seem to question convention just like I like to think I do. On that note, when people ask me where I get my ‘crazy ideas’ (I would know for having creative and outside the box ideas and solutions to problems) I am amazed cos there’s plenty of people like me out there in the world; we’re not that renowned though.
www.hideoutchicago.com