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...

So the "story behind the song" series continues with track 2, Dream Of A Gentle Apocalypse.  What can I really say about this one?  It is literally based on a dream I had - at least the vague recollections I had of it the next day.  I obviously was in a bit of a strange mood when I fell asleep for my mind to come up with this kind of imagery but the strange thing about it was that it was by no means a nightmare.  I remember waking up the next morning feeling somewhat disoriented by it but it had not been frightening, just strange and very surreal.  I also remember all the images passing by very slowly and quietly, not the chaos you would expect from an apocalypse and that's where the idea of the "gentle" apocalypse came in.  I wasn't inspired to write anything down initially but after a few days of thinking about it a couple of verses came to mind.

I was almost going to leave it at only two verses but a while after the initial dream I had another one that was a bit similar and had a "judgement day" feel to it.  I have a feeling this one was inspired by the book I was reading at the time, "Riven Rock" by T.C. Boyle which is based on the life of Stanley McCormick (quite an irony but no relation to me as far as I know) who had suffered from schizophrenia and had been tormented by "the judges" his entire adult life.  And so the third verse was conceived as the final reckoning for all of this chaos and ended the song in a more logical way I think.

And that's pretty much it.  I had already sketched out some of the music during an earlier experiment and adapted it a bit to fit the verses etc.  I think this is one of the strangest pieces I have ever created and reflects heavily on the influence of film scores in my music.  Perhaps there will be more like it to come in the future!

So after a bit of a delay the big day is finally here and the debut release "Shock & Awe" is offical and a free download will be available until the release show on June 26.  Yes, the entire EP will be FREE for a limited time which seems to be the way everyone is going these days so why swim against the current?  And how do I really feel about this free music future?  I have to admit that I have very mixed feelings but I have also decided not to waste too much time and energy worrying about the financial aspects of what I am doing.  I'm having a lot of fun making this stuff and there appear to be some people out there who are digging it so why complicate things?  The last gig was also really fun even though there was only a small crowd.  The sound was fantastic and the staff at Madame Claude were great so what more can you ask for...

Anyway, on to the point.  The EP is done and released and I am quite pleased with how it turned out, at least for a first attempt with this new production strategy.  I chose the title based on the track I thought had the catchiest name, "Shock & Awe" and I will explain what the song is about in the next post.  After that I will write a post about each of the 6 songs every few days to give a bit more background and hopefully make some sense of it all.

Speaking of album titles, I probably could have called this EP "Delayed" not only because the release date was delayed but now the release show date has been re-scheduled for a week later as well!  No big deal, a few unexpected things came up this week and in the end it was decided that June 26 would be better and a live big-screen broadcast of the World Cup will be part of the festivities.  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!!!

Wanted to get around to writing something here for a while now but the personal life got kind of busy and there was also a lot to do to get the EP finished so that's the way it goes.  At least now I can say that a lot has been accomplished in the last while and the EP is being mastered as I write and will be ready on time after all.  Quite a relief after all the setbacks and other things I've had to deal with over the past month.  I'll write more about the EP and the songs soon...

Another big priority has been to get the technical problems with the live set sorted out and steps have been taken.  I ordered a ground-loop isolator yesterday which should take care of the buzzing and other disturbance that came from the laptop when it was plugged in and a smaller controller will be attached directly to the keyboard to allow a more compact setup on stage.  The laptop will now be placed on a large size note stand which means no more table necessary for it and the large controller etc.  I have also decided to phase the guitars out of the live set (for the time being) which will mean fewer factors to consider in the overall sound.  I will still play some of the songs that have been recorded with guitar but will adapt them to the keyboard which should be interesting as alternative versions, something which is going to happen with all the songs at some point probably.

All for now...