Song #27: Descent Into Madness

Another old tune written back in high school. At the time, I was heavily into the band Sunny Day Real Estate. This song in particular is influenced by the sound and atmosphere of "Grendel." It's probably one of my darkest and heaviest tunes.



Without having at drum set handy, I used drum machines so it would put the genre at "Industrial Emo" (maybe?). I did all the guitars direct (no amplifier) then doctored them up after the fact. There are 4 tracks of Ebow guitar drones, which altogether make up the chords I am playing and sound something like an organ combined with feedback and strings. It's becoming a trick I've used in several recordings lately. I put distortion on the vocals and put the threshold on the compressors so low that they make a "static" sound during the parts where I am not singing. I played with these static moments by looping them in reverse and adding strange sounding effects to them. I think it gives a real sinister and creepy feel fitting for the song.

Song #26: What Can I Say

This is an oldie written around 1999. It was influenced by the Sixpence None The Richer song "Kiss Me." I probably would have been made fun of by my friends back then if I ever admitted that so it was kind of a guilty pleasure at the time.



I added the piano part on a whim and I think it kind of makes the song. Instead of using a bass guitar, I played bass notes on the piano. For the solo, I used an ebow (which seems to be getting a lot of use these days). I also decided to add the jembe track last minute. Any suggestions?

Song #25: Patience

With Song #25 posted, I am officially half way done with this project! Today's tune sat half finished for several years. All I had was the chorus. Today I wrote some versus and finished it. As evident with the words, it's about couple dealing getting through hard times. Some of the inspiration came from my personal frustrations with finding a job. The sound is inspired by the band, Black Heart Procession. Check them out. I think I might try to find a saw later on and add it to the song.

Song #24: Underwater

This week's influence is Sigur Ros. I saw this Icelandic band play a few years ago and it was one of the most incredible shows I've ever seem. Such power and emotion with such a unique sound. Here is one of my favorite tracks of theirs.


My song borrows some elements from Sigur Ros' sound: a repetitive piano line, harmonic chimes, the ebow (Sigur Ros uses a violin bow but the sound is pretty close), a thudy bass and kick drum, and soft quarter note electric guitar strums on two strings. Since I can't sing like Jonsi, I went a different direction with the vocals and layered them. What do you think?

Song #23: Have I Loved You

This song is actually the very first song that I wrote with words! (I wrote a few piano instrumentals before then). It dates 15 years ago back to July of 1997 (according to my notes) when I had just turned 14 - and now I FINALLY recorded it! At the time, the song was much slower. I thought of it as a ballad patterned after the Beatles "In My Life" (where I not-so-subtly lifted the line from). The lyrics also very lovey-dovey like the early Beatles. Later on when my high school band was taking a break, I jammed with may buddy, Jeff, on sax and picked up the tempo, giving it the Jack Johnson meets Dave Matthews feel. Unfortunately, my friend was not in town to play sax so for purposes of this project, I decided to whistle the solo parts. I also added jembe, snaps, maracas, and bass guitar to fill it out. I think it works. It's not the best lyrics I've written but it's a snappy, catchy tune that I'm still proud of.

Song #22: I Get By

This one is influenced by both John Vanderslice and Pinback. I started writing it back in 2005 and it stayed half written until this month. The arrangement was a beast to figure out; I tried lots of things out that didn't seem to work but I think I got it now. The arrangement features drum programming, guitars (including ebow guitar parts), synthesizers, a noise pad (using my ipad), and beat boxing.... yes, beat boxing! There's a first for everything. I think this is another one of my favorites of the project. What do you think?

Song #21: I Don't Know

This one is yet another oldie from the high school days; one of my first. Although this is far from reggae, I'm going to go ahead and site Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" as inspiration. I love the sound of the organ in that song so I tried to maintain a little of that feel. Also, the jembe (sort of like a congo drum) adds to the "island ambiance". The lyrics are a little bit of a downer so hopefully the production elements help balance it out.