Was sorting through some pics I took while on a little getaway to the wilds of Brandenburg a couple of weeks ago and came across this, a monster of an organ in a church in Templin that dates back to the turn of the last century (circa 1908 I think).  Unfortunately it is no longer functional otherwise I might have actually had the guts to ask if I could try it out.  It even had Sub-Bass!!!  Man, they don't make 'em like that anymore...

Stay tuned!  The final installment of the "story behind the song" series is coming later this week...

Time for another installment in the "story behind the song" series, this time for track 5 "Everywhere (Except Here)". 

And what can I really say about this one?  It is a fairly basic idea lyrically and came about while I was listening to the music I had composed.  I was listening and trying to figure out a vocal melody and some words based on the feeling I got from listening to the composition and noticed that my mind kept wandering off to different things.  I gave up several times that day until I realized that the idea was right in front of me all along.  "My mind is everywhere, everywhere except here"!

The song is based on my personal experience but I think a lot of people can relate to this.  I've always been a bit of a daydreamer but as I get older I notice that I don't "dream" as much as get lost in thoughts about real concerns that don't really have any bearing on my present situation which leads people to think that I am daydreaming.  Unfortunately the days of true daydreaming seem to be over for me and I rarely find myself lost in thoughts of some adventure or other fanciful situation.  I really miss that.

I decided to keep the lyrics pretty simple and just explored other ideas with the "except" dynamic.  Other than that there is not much more to tell other than it has been one of the more difficult songs to adapt to a live performance but I think I have worked most of the kinks out and look forward to playing it live in the next show.

Part 4 of the "story behind the song" series is of course about track 4 from the debut E.P.  The reason for the name and the theme of the lyrics was taken from the general feeling I got when listening to the music which had been composed during an early experiment.  As the music came together and all the acoustic elements were added I began to sense a feeling of something very intense yet secretive, something lurking but still out of sight and ready to pounce at any moment.

This led  me to start working on some lyric ideas based on this theme and it quickly became clear in my mind that only one word could describe what I was envisioning when I heard this and that word was "stealth". 

The lyrics don't refer to any particular thing or situation but instead are abstract generalizations about things that you aren't aware of that sneak up on you and turn your life upside down and also about my own situation - which is probably not that different than that of a lot of people - where I sometimes feel that I am a bit "invisible" and existing "under the radar" whether I want to or not. 

I get a bit of a sentimental feeling for 80's synth scores in TV and film when I hear it but I think the vocal part takes it to a different level and kind of "mondernizes" it.  The retro feel wasn't really intentional but I guess it just shows how my influences from that period are sneaking through into this music.

The inspiration for this one came from observations of online activity that I have made over the past couple of years.  I am an avid reader of music and music-related blogs and although I read many different kinds, I started to notice a pattern.  This should be an age when the technology of "Web 2.0" allows for what I consider to be true freedom of the press, i.e. anyone can start a blog or news site and publish whatever they want as long as it is factual and not slanderous.  So after years of mags like Rolling Stone, Billboard, NME etc. basically monopolizing the music press we should be optimistic that this new age will allow a "level playing field" and bands, stories, music etc. that once would have been ignored (most likely because they don't have enough marketing money behind them) can now get the word out to this new form of alternative press and get some kind of attention at least. 

After all, do we really need another Pitchfork Media?  Or any of these other big "alternative music" blogs that really only handle the "mainstream alternative"?  Of course the obvious anwser is NO.  But upon closer inspection of what is actually going on online you quickly find out that there are actually very few bloggers out there who are actually thinking for themselves and developing their own opinions.  Almost everywhere you look it's the same old thing, same bands, same hype same opinions give or take a few choice adjectives.  Actually a pretty sad situation considering the opportunity that is there.

The "flock" in this case is not a flock of birds, but a flock of sheep (see picture above).  Kind of an obvious choice when referring to the "follower" mentality but I looked at it a bit more closely and I am actually describing a particular kind of sheep that considers itself above the rest even though it is equally susceptible to being led and herded but more by external forces, i.e. the shepherd a.k.a. expensive marketing strategies and pr people.

An interesting little anecdote about the lyrics comes from a spelling error I made while writing out a verse with the word "bleet" - I actually meant to write "bleat" which is the word for the sound a sheep makes.  I actually wasn't sure of the correct spelling, probably because it is not a word I use very often (if at all) so I did a quick web search for the spelling "bleet" and came across a very interesting coincidence.  As it turns out, the word "bleet" is a newly formed word for an online entry that is longer than a "tweet" but shorter than a normal blog entry.  Fantastic!  Without even knowing it I had actually found the exact word I was looking for!  I guess it was just meant to be...