#I want more instruments in general but a drum kit would be amazing to have again

[castawavy]

bands in the sims would fix me if im honest

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

Why YOU should give Rush a chance

Okay, so right off the bat, this is not going to be like my other posts on my blog. This is not a post about some show that has captivated my interest or anything at all related to animation. If that's not your cup of Dot rambling coffee, than I would highly recommend you take your L right now and come back for your regularly scheduled programming in a few days.

Are they gone? Okay cool! For those of you that stuck around past my forewarning let me tell you about my newest special interest to join my now growing music love affair with 80's and 90's Rock n Roll. For those of you that don't know, I'm guessing that most of you do not know what Rush even is. If you are not somehow on the autism spectrum or know a lot about music in general than this band will be entirely unknown to you. Rush is a three man progressive rock band born in Canada made up of three incredibly amazing men Gary "Geddy" Lee, his best friend since he was 11 years old Alex Lifeson, and last but most certainly not least, the amazingness that was Rush's drummer and songwriter Neil Peart. Together, the three of them changed the world of progressive rock through Geddy's unique vocal qualities, Alex's incredibly underrated shredding guitar skills, and Neil's immaculate drums and lyrics. I am here to tell you, yes YOU reading this length rambling message in three sections to keep this fair. Each member will get their own sections and I will try my hardest to keep personal bias out of this. I also just watched Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage yesterday with my mom so I will mention some things that we talked about during it to try and sell people.

Geddy Lee:

* Geddy has one of the most unique voices in all of rock music. This will most likely be the thing that turns off the people that do listen to me and wind up listening to a couple of songs. He has had a lot of critics for his higher pitched voice usually yelling lyrics. However, I love his singing voice. It is filled with energy and power to it. His voice has a weight to it that not a whole lot of other people can really nail if they really want to.

* You want to talk about sheer talent? How many of you all know lead singers that are a one and done kind of singer? They can play one instrument and they're done? Well shove them aside because Geddy can play not only bass guitar but a double neck bass, synthesizer, and piano. Yeah I think all you haters can stand aside because this man will always be amazing technically.

* So many of lead singers in my opinion, think that they own the band. Because they get to sing the songs right? That means that they get to make all the important decisions and they can't ever do anything wrong. Well for those of you that know Rush, you will remember the synthesizer era. The era of new wave Rush where Geddy shelved his bass guitars for his synthesizer. This caused a small rift between Lee, Lifeson, and Peart who were not at all fans of the way that the synthesizer was going. While Geddy was having a fun time with it, he shelved the synthesizer almost for good and went back to his roots. I don't know many other lead singers that would put up something that they were legitimately having a good time with just for his bandmates.

* Geddy's just general goofball personality is something that continues to make me chuckle. Since he and Alex have known each other for practically ever (they met when they were 11) and have been there for each other for most of their lives they have very similar energy's.

Alex Lifeson:

* Alex Lifeson is an underrated guitarist. There I said it. I feel like of the three of them (Geddy, Alex, and Neil) Alex gets talked about the least due to the fact that Geddy also plays guitar. While it might be a different brand of guitar some people forget just how genuinely face melting his solos are. I could listen to his riff in Tom Sawyer all day long I swear. I'm still working my way through every Rush album in chronological order (I'm just now finishing A Farewell To Kings an absolutely beautiful album.) But his skills are not one to be downsized and I think he is an amazing, amazing guitar player.

* You want to talk about the group goofball? If Geddy is goofy, you look in the dictionary this man is the pure definition of a hilarious and quirky character. When Rush was FINALLY indicted into the Rock N'Roll hall of fame in 2013, after Neil and Geddy's beautiful and moving speech's about how important this means to them, Alex gets up there and his entire speech is spoken in very animated BLAHs. But what's really funny is that if you watch carefully he is actually trying to tell you a story. It's a story about how they all got there past the critics that tried to stop them along the way.

* I love the relationship between Alex and Geddy especially. They're just both such unique kinds of people but they have similar quirks and traits that are evidence of decades upon decades of friendship. I get massive big bro vibes from watching the three of them play together and it's really touching that they never let the fame go to their heads.

* While watching the documentary, I found myself in awe of just his general personality. He was a jokester and the life of the party, and even if sometimes Neil was exhausted by his presence it was obvious that he loved his bros.

Neil Peart:

* If you are asking me, the heart and soul of Rush, was their drummer Neil Peart. Neil wasn't just their drummer though, he also wrote all of Rush's songs after their first album together. Neil grew up probably the biggest bookworm to ever bookworm. He was a socially awkward kid it seemed since he was always reading as his parents explained in the documentary (more on this laster). This resulted in lyrics that are absolutely gorgeous in any context and sound like literature themselves. One of my favorite Rush songs is their song Rivendale themed to Lord Of The Rings.

* Peart was one of the most technically amazing drummers of all time. I don't think I'm saying new information when I say that. He has been praised for not only his technical prowess but the intensity of how he played as well. He was a force of nature when you put him in front of a drum kit. The drum solos in Rush are not easy. They are technically extremely difficult and always leave me to collect my jaw from the floor.

* Lyrically speaking, his lyrics were so intelligent and beautifully worded that it's hard to focus on them sometimes. I've listened to Fly By Night I can't tell you how many times just within the last few months. They are so unique, so beautiful, just so Rush. I can't think of any other word to describe them other than Rush. Nobody else could have written lyrics like these other than Neil himself. Even though he's gone now (Rest In Power you absolute Mad Lad.) I still feel like his music will resonate with millions of future generations to come. It could be the year 3000 for all I care and people will still be jamming to Tom Swayer, just you watch.

* Lastly about Neil himself, this is of the opinion of my mom and I, and you heard it here first, I think that Neil was aspie. He was the quietest of the three of them, he hated getting spotted by fans while the other two seem to tolerate it, he was constantly stimming with his drumsticks on and off the stage by spinning them around his fingers, he was totally nerdy and antisocial, he loved literature more than anything else growing up and would rather have a book in his hands than go out to a public place with his classmates, and he grieved in a different way than most people do. When his wife and daughter passed away, he hit the road with his motorcycle and most often Geddy and Alex wouldn't hear from him for months at a time. They had cute little nicknames for each other that Neil would always sign the postcards with. It was a different one every single time.

Thanks for listening to me ramble on this day guys! I really appreciate it, I know that this hasn't been your regularly schedule Dot programming but I really appreciate you sticking around! Give Rush a listen to if I've piqued your interest you will not regret it.

[smilepal]

65, 83, 97 pls 🥰

Asks for @wanderingaldecaldo :3

65.) Do you play any instruments?

Yes! I played drums from elementary school through high school, so 11-ish years? I stopped playing after I graduated but I've definitely thought about picking them up again (RIP neighbors 😂). I started on a snare and got into the kit in high school. My parents tried to get me into piano when I was younger but I was a terrible student and hated practicing and never got very good. I sort of wish I had, but oh well.

83.) What is something that you’d want to learn?

There are a lot of things. I'd like to get back into drawing more, and brush up on that--I'm not bad at it, but haven't been practicing as much as I'd like. I've also wanted to get into rock climbing? It looks like such an amazing work-out and there are some really good walls near me, so it would be a fun challenge. It also gives me the excuse to find new places to hike/climb 💖

97.) What genre of music do you listen to the most?

I listen to a really eclectic mix but it's been a lot of video game/movie soundtracks over here lately. They're easy to have on in the background when I'm working or writing and aren't too distracting. In general though, lots of alt/blues rock and techno--some metal or industrial. It just depends on the mood, honestly.

Thanks for asking! These were fun 😍

[lgcsookyung]

so it’s tee again (still they/she/he, 22, gmt). basically, i went on a tiny hiatus in which i did some thinking. and what i concluded was that sookyung wasn’t quite how i wanted her to be. aka, i saw some ladies playing instruments and got much more inspired than i was beforehand. so sookyung and her profile went through a little revamp. not much has changed at all; sookyung’s personality is basically exactly the same, it’s just her background, talents and focus that i changed.

so say hello to the new drummer girl sookyung. like before, i’ll leave info and plot ideas below, as well as her about page here, and plot page here

born in changwon, south korea, sookyung grew up living above the small family restaurant owned by her grandparents, in which both her mother and father also work

she has a twin brother, who is younger by ten minutes

when not a trainee she is a librarian. her overactive self hates the job, but she thinks of her boss as a weird uncle, so she doesn’t quit

when she was young she learnt pansori, as well as how to play the traditional korean drum, quickly becoming talented in both

while she can still do both very well, her passions have moved over to the more modern genre of rock, especially loving the drums

she also knows how to play the bass guitar, though not quite to the same level as the drum kit

rapping also became a fun hobby of hers, wanting to use her (bad?) habit of speaking too fast for good

sookyung is buff, almost surprisingly so. like, “can lift a grown man” strong. this is due to her love of working out

she definitely wears sleeveless tanks when playing to show off her guns

she can speak a little bit of japanese (thank you j-rock). she definitely isn’t fluent or close to it in either, but she could get by if stranded somewhere they’re spoken

sookyung has a bit of an addiction to collecting lipstick, which she is almost never seen not wearing. usuallly red

she is a lesbian. technically, she hasn’t come out to anyone except her brother, but it really isn’t too hard to guess that she might not be straight considering she isn’t shy when talking about her love and respect for women. when asked she just says “guess”

absolutely hates the cold. in winter you can count on her being snuggled up in a million blankets with a mug of hot tea. she is also a body heat snatcher. if you’re comfortable with it, she will be snuggled so close to you that it’s hard to tell where one person begins and ends

sookyung almost never sleeps in her own bed. due to insomnia, power naps are her go to and it doesn’t matter where she is or when it is. if she actually feels like she can sleep and is able to do so, she is taking that chance

basically she is a cat; can be found sleeping in either the weirdest of spots or a warm human lap

overwatch is the only videogame sookyung really plays. shes a reinhardt main forever and always, and is surprisingly good at him too

please don’t let her cook. unless it’s grilling meat, which she is an absolute pro. it’s kinda ironic that her family owns a restaurant but she’ll burn rice in a rice cooker

her internal compass is not just broken; it’s missing entirely. you can definitely expect her to be the one walking the wrong way off stage at music and award shows if she does ever debut

sookyung is loud, literally and figuratively. she likes entertaining people, whether that’s with her singing or playing, her laugh, her jokes or even character impressions. if she wasn’t on the band path, she’d definitely want to go into variety. perhaps one day she might be able to do both

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~plot ideas~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

fellow clingy people who will happily put up with her koala like tendencies

anyone who speaks japanese and is willing to help her practice

gym buddies! sookyung is a gym rat and an amazing person to work out with thanks to her encouraging personality

just friends in general! sookyung has been at lgc for two years, she would have definitely made a friend or thousand in that time

[erekuri]

OK BIG BRAIN TIME! Joker Game x BABYMETAL AU

For anyone who may not know who BABYMETAL is, they are a Japanese idol group/metal band with 2 (formerly 3) members. They are popular for the way they combine Japanese idol cuteness with heavy metal, and some have dubbed their style “kawaii metal.” Their music is amazing for real please check it out! 

BABYMETAL are loved in Japan and around the world, and they’ve met many big names in metal/rock such as Metallica, Judas Priest, and Dragonforce. They have choreography in their songs and their performances are really fun to watch :D

So, I was in the shower when this idea came to me. Since originally they had 3 members, I was thinking that the 160 cm trio of Miyoshi, Hatano, and Jitsui would be well-suited for this. BABYMETAL also consists of a band, so the other 5 spies would be in said band, and Yuuki would be the manager. So it’ll look like this:

IDOLS:

Miyoshi (center/lead vocalist)

Hatano (vocalist/rapper)

Jitsui (main vocalist)

BAND:

Kaminaga (drums/waidako)

Tazaki (keyboard/piano)

Fukumoto (lead guitar/violin)

Odagiri (bass guitar/cello/harp/acoustic)

Amari (secondary guitar/trumpet/saxophone) 

IDOLS:

By center, I mean that Miyoshi will almost always be at the center of their photos and is deemed as the ‘main member.’ (In K-pop terms, think of visuals and centers such as Yoona from Girls’ Generation or Kai from EXO.) He’s the member who will usually take the lead in interviews because he’s the oldest, though all 3 seem to have drunk from the fountain of youth lol. Jitsui is the main vocalist, so he gets the most lines as well as the high notes if the song has one. Hatano gets the least, but generally the line distribution is even enough that there are little complaints. He will also rap on occasion (think Linkin Park or Hollywood Undead) but most of their songs are singing-based. Hatano and Miyoshi will also do adlibs while Jitsui is known for his stunning vocal runs. Even though Jitsui is their main vocalist, Miyoshi is the one who gets put in the center of their dance formations more often. 

Ah right, their voices. (Since I am more familiar with K-pop rather than J-pop vocalists, they’ll be my main references here. My apologies in advance.)

Jitsui is the main vocalist. He needs a sweet voice to compliment his sweet face, but it’s also gotta be powerful. Ryeowook from Super Junior would be the perfect fit here, because it’s got this sweet tone to it but also nice and clear and the high notes would sound like a literal choir of angels. 

Miyoshi’s vocal color would be like Suho from EXO. Clear and sweet and comforting. His falsettos are the most flawless thing you’ve ever heard, and the emotion he puts into his singing is on another level. His voice is, in a word, PRETTY.

Since Hatano does both vocals and rap, I’m thinking his vocal color would be like Key from SHINee. With that higher tone he has, it suits Hatano’s appearance and personality wonderfully. Both his singing and rapping are amazing and he likes to scream sometimes to hype up the crowd lol.

(All vocalists mentioned are from SM Entertainment groups,,, damn, I really said SINGERS ONLY and I really like all 3 choices I made omg. MY MIND.)

(In the real BABYMETAL, member Su-metal sings the majority but I am not deep enough in the fandom to know how fans feel about it. I don’t mind too much since the songs slap either way lmao. And I think the balance is nice but that’s just me. However, for the 160cm trio, I had to even it up because I am someone who typically prefers more even line distributions when it comes to idol groups.)

As for their dancing, BABYMETAL’s choreography is a unique one where 1 is center and the other 2 are backup. For my AU, however, I’d make the choreo more like EXO-CBX in that it’s suited for 3 people, while also taking notes from Super Junior (for their earlier metal songs) or Dreamcatcher (for their famous ‘anime-style’ music.) 

BAND:

Because they’re a metal group, Kaminaga will almost always be on the drum kit, and by God he is good at it. The drum kit he uses is one you’ll see in most metal bands, but he also uses an auxiliary drum kit (which is electrical and has sensors and stuff) for the group’s more experimental tracks. When they want to go something more traditional or epic, he’ll bring out his wadaiko (traditional Japanese drum) and go at it. He’s also the unofficial leader of the band. 

Tazaki plays the keyboard. I personally envision Tuomas from Nightwish when I think of this position, but there are other keyboard players in metal bands out there that are fun to watch. Tazaki is generally a calm person, but when he plays he headbangs like crazy. He’ll play the piano when they do softer songs, and his pretty fingers are mesmerizing to watch. Oh yeah, and the keyboard he uses is a synthesizer due to the underlying ‘pop’ aspect in their music, considering it’s for an idol group.

Fukumoto would be the main/lead guitarist. He’d get pretty much all the solos (though Amari might join in as the secondary guitarist). He’s hailed as one of the best guitarists of all time, and he plays a major role in the musical arrangements of the songs. He’s also a prodigy when it comes to the violin, which he’ll sometimes use instead of his guitar for a more ‘symphonic’ sound. In reality, he’ll switch between them as he sees fit. 

Odagiri is the reliable bass guitar; underrated, but without them, the song just isn’t the same. As the bass player, he helps to balance out the guitars. He plays the cello when they want a jazzier theme or an orchestra kind of sound, and when they go the traditional route, in comes the harp. When the boys want to sing an acoustic version of their songs to show off their vocals, Odagiri will be the one to play the acoustic guitar to accompany them.

Amari is the secondary guitarist, and arguably the most versatile player in the band. He can not only play the electric guitar, but he can also play the trumpet and the saxophone. Their jazz songs would require them to be in the same song, but he can switch between the two easily enough, provided he’s given enough time to transition (otherwise he’ll simply use a pre-recording of one while playing the other live.) When a song requires both violin and guitar, Amari will take the role of the lead guitar while Fukumoto plays violin.

(The instruments mentioned are their main ones, though I’m sure they could all play more if they wanted to. I just don’t have the brain cells to spare for this lol. Maybe some other time I can give more thought to the band, but I’m ok with what I have for now. Besides, most metal bands will have 1 person per instrument or will bring in a whole orchestra, so what I have is farfetched ngl, and yet I like it because the D-Agency boys are just so talented at anything they try hehe)

OTHERS:

As stated earlier, Yuuki would be their manager. He is known to all as just “Yuuki.” He is the one who brought the group together, as the trio were originally part of an idol group but were mostly in the back, while the others were notable musicians who had no band to belong to. In his prime, he was an acclaimed songwriter and producer, but he’s also super happy doing what he does as a manager/producer for the 160cm trio and the band. He fought tooth and nail for the formation of this group and is more than satisfied with their explosive popularity. He will often clash with the CEO of their label, IG Productions, because he refuses to let them hold back the band’s growth. 

Now, y’all may be wondering… where is Sakuma??? 

Sakuma, Gamo Jirou, Yuriko Nogami, and Miyoko Yasuhara are all well-respected actors under the same agency (not IG but another one lol.) 

Yuriko and Miyoko are mostly in theatre, but Yuriko is a recurring favorite in J-dramas while Miyoko is popular in movies. 

Jirou is super versatile, and he’d be kinda like Robert Pattinson in the sense that he will often make fun of the stuff he’s been in. He likes to take on bizarre roles that test his limits as an actor, and his range is pretty much unmatched. He’s recognizable but people will still lose themselves in his brilliant acting. He is more often seen in movies, but sometimes he’ll star in a drama, especially one where he plays a villain/antagonist or a second-lead.

Sakuma is another J-drama favorite, and he has a legion of fangirls; as of late, those fangirls include aunties who love his clean and respectable image. He made headlines once when he shaved his head for a role as a soldier because it was such a shock that he looked as handsome as ever. He loves being in movies with a lot of angst/sad endings, and don’t get me started on how sad some of the dramas he’s in can be. And as a bonus, his characters almost always die and oof it really breaks people’s hearts. Occasionally, he’ll take on a more light-hearted role such as a friendly teacher. 

Sakuma and Gamo are both openly gay, and many fangirls will wish for them to find boyfriends because they want these actors to be happy. They have starred in movies together and their friendship off-screen can be considered ‘iconic.’ Fans ship them platonically. 

Sakuma would also be a major fanboy of the D-Agency band, and Miyoshi is easily his favorite member. He attends their concerts in disguise because he has a reputation, damn it. One time he dragged his actor friends along, and Gamo fell for Jitsui HARD. Meanwhile, Yuriko eventually starts a romance with the bassist, Odagiri, when she wanders backstage by accident on her way to the restroom. (Sakuma is jealous as fuck that she managed to get backstage but he won’t admit it.)

Alain, Marie, Jean, and Johann are all foreign celebrities, who are all wildly popular in Japan. Marie would be a popular actress who travels to Japan to participate in a film (directed by Jean, a highly-respected director) that takes place there. It’d be a collaboration project between a French studio and a Japanese one. Alain would be a famous pop artist in France, and his songs can be meaningful and uplifting or super raunchy and inappropriate as hell, no in-between. He goes to Japan because he’s interested in their newest idol/heavy metal fusion group. Johann is a talented lyricist/producer and he prefers to write songs for other people and avoid the drama that comes with being a celebrity. Alain drags him to Japan because why not?

END:

Back to the band, their debut song would be ‘Reason Triangle’. ‘Double’ would be for a J-drama collab in which Sakuma finally gets to meet his favorite group (???) idk but their discography would also include songs like:

Taking Off - ONE OK ROCK

Fukagyaku Replace - My First Story

Take Off - 2PM

Cosmic Railway - EXO

CORE PRIDE - UVERworld

Signal- TK from Ling tosite sigure

FEED THE FIRE - coldrain

Kyouran Hey Kids!! - THE ORAL CIGARETTES

And that’s all I can think of for this AU. I can’t believe I wrote so much but this idea just wouldn’t leave my head so I had to write it all down. I hope y’all enjoy my ramblings lol. 

[disinvited-guest]

3/6/2020 Chicago

I got to hang out with a whole bunch of awesome people before this show, both people I knew and ones I just met that day.  It almost made it worth the freezing temperatures to meet them all.  Once we got in to the much warmer venue, I got a spot to the left of the keyboard, with folks to talk to on both sides.  

Fresh outdid himself in the fashion department at this show. As he was setting up, he proudly displayed jagged-striped pink-and-green neon socks, a yellow sweatshirt with Simba printed all over it, and a headband with a print I didn’t catch all the details of, but included the word “Krap!” and bull horns.

Note: I am shortening the recap for the first set, since it was a copy of the one from the night before, except that they didn’t play the forward version of Sapphire Bullets.  This show didn’t have much banter in the first set regardless, but I’ll share what there was.  The second  set recap will be the regular length

During the first block of songs, Dan had to switch to his backup electric briefly, which sounded louder than the other, but switched back by the next song.  Danny had a band-aid with him when they went onstage.  He unwrapped it and put it on his thumb during the first few songs, then spent the rest of the set rewrapping it as it kept peeling off.

After the first block of songs, Flans asked Linnell how it was going.  Linnell told him to hold on because “I have to check.”  After a pause, he decided “I think it’s going pretty good.”

Flans  said he had a good day and that he had taken an afternoon nap.  He had also worked on some of the songs he had messed up the day before because “There is no off-switch on this okay button.”

Linnell replied that “Buttons with switches on them are tricky,” and then changed the subject, introducing us all to his new keyboard stand. “I did get a new keyboard stand and I can’t stop talking about it.”

Flans told him that talking a lot about the keyboard stand was okay because of “how much you have to listen to us talk about guitar amps.”

Linnell gave us some more details on the keyboard stand. According to him, the stand has wells in the front because it is based on his old keyboard stand, which was designed by Brian Dewan “who’s greatest wish was to design a school desk.”  “I keep my math homework over there, and over here I carved the Aerosmith logo”  He then told us that the new stand has a drawer, which the old one didn’t.  Linnell wanted to open the drawer to show us, but it wasn’t facing anyone, so he told Flans that they should post a video of what it looks like online. 

When Linnell brought up that Minimum Wage has a whip crack in it on the album, he suggested that the audience could do it here. Flans replied that the audience would have to, since they didn’t finish sound production on the song.

Before Stilloob, Flans called it the “Playing a Song From Flood Backwards Challenge.”  While  explaining what they would do, he told us that for this part of the show “I don’t want to say there is no audience enjoyment, but the amount of audience enjoyment is finite.”  At the next stopping point after the song Flans announced “We are challenging all other They Might Be Giants like bands.  WE KNOW who they are,” to complete the ‘challenge’.  During the next song, Lucky Ball and Chain, Flans pulled what I presume was the lyric sheet for Stilloob off of his stand, crumpled it up, and threw it upstage behind Curt’s riser.

Flans told the balcony that they couldn’t rock out too much, and that the venue last night had been “like playing in a coliseum.”

Later, Flans decided the show was going too fast, and he had to slow it down.  He told us to get out our phones, demanding “What are you? At work?” when we were slow to do so.  Then he had the whole band come up to pose for photos.  We were told to post the photos and tag them @hodgeman.  I wonder if any confused fans actually did.

In between sets, Fresh had to fight with a lady standing a few people to my left, who kept putting her jacket and purse on the carpet for Marty’s electronic drum kit, even after he had asked her to remove them.  Saul, making sure the lights for the Quiet Storm were adjusted properly, bent his legs while checking at Linnell’s mic so that he could check how the lights were at Linnell’s height, which was a hilarious necessity I hadn’t considered before.

When the intro music for the second set began, Flans stuck onstage by going around behind the risers for some reason.  Once he made it to his mic with his guitar, I realised he didn’t have his glasses on.

Once again, 2082 was the first song of the set, despite the setlist, which had 2018 written instead.  Linnell’s mic was off for the first line and a half of the song, so it was a strange start, although the rest of the song was unaffected by it.  

Because I was right by the electronic drum kit, the whole Quiet Storm was a bit strange, as the actual sound of the mallets hitting sounded as clear as the electronic sounds those hits generated.  It was a bit disorienting at first!  I also could see little pieces of fluff falling off of the mallets and floating away as he played.

After 2082, they played Music Jail, which once again blew me away.  I realized that a big part of its ability to be so rocking was that the electronic drums allowed Marty to take over a larger part of the song.

Once Music Jail was finished, John Brunette slipped onstage to give Flans his glasses.  Flans stepped back to grab them and even way off mic, it was easy to hear his cry of “Oh, thank god”  Stepping quickly back to the mic and placing his glasses on his face, he introduced Linnell as on on the keyboards for the next song.

“Nothing makes our short, unsatisfying unplugged set better than electronic drums and a keyboard,” he announced. 

 “It’s acoustic!”  Linnell promised us, “Except for the drums and the keyboard.”

Moving on, Flans introduced the next song. “This song is about what makes New England so special, which might not mean much here.”  This led, of course, into Wicked Little Critta, and then they all left us with the Underwater Woman Video once again while the crew cleaned up.

As the song was finishing, they all returned to the stage.  Linnell, watching the video as he came on, mouthed along to a few of the words, basically singing along to himself.

Rather than start back into the music right away, Flans came up to the mic and told us all “We talk a lot about healthcare in the band. Now it's time to talk about some music.”  He told us the next song was off of My Murdered Remains “a name no one in our management was happy with” and mentioned that it was not available for streaming.  

Linnell chimed in to say that this was a new strategy, calling it an ‘inreach’ program instead of outreach.  “If you think you can help,” Flans said to the crowd “We’re okay!” Then they started into The Communists Have the Music.  

From there, they played Wearing a Raincoat, and then Damn Good Times, which was their first deviation from the setlist of the night before!  I had honestly grown a bit tired of this song in 2018, but clearly all I had needed was some time away, because I was overjoyed to hear it again!  Dan was, of course, particularly amazing during this song, and especially smiley during the remainder of the set.

They paused only briefly after DGT to announce that the next song was about a near eastern rock band, then played The Mesopotamians, followed immediately by Spy.  Linnell had a different sample this time around, a woman singing “very-very” which I couldn’t place, and he also yelled high and low opposite the band playing.  Flans had a bit more luck directing the crowd than he did in Milwaukee, and also engaged in playing his guitar while pressing his mic stand to the strings.

They played Ana Ng, which is always fun live, and then Let Me Tell You About My Operation, with Flans calling out “Paging Doctor Beller!” before that absolutely epic drum part in the instrumental part of the song.

After that run of songs, everyone on stage looked a bit breathless.  Linnell must have been feeling it, since he decided they needed to “take this high energy and slow it down by talking about something boring.”

Flans agreed with him and said that the show was going by too fast. “It’s like it’s still the first set. It’s like we still care!”

Linnell, who had just taken a sip from his coffee cup, mentioned that his new keyboard stand had no drink holder but “I guess school desks don’t have drink holders”

“You do have a rearview mirror,” Flans pointed out.

“I do!”  He turned it around briefly so that we all could see.  “It’s so Marty can keep an eye on me.  So he can see if I’m making faces.”

“Marty has ways of keeping an eye on everybody,” Flans added. “Now that it’s the third act of Behind the Music all the secrets everyone already knew can come out.”

Linnell started to respond, then broke off  “Danny is pressuring me to start the song, isn’t he?”  Danny was waiting attentively, but patiently behind the keyboard.  When Linnell asked about him, I looked over and he met my eyes.  I smiled at him, and shook my head.  He wasn’t pressuring Linnell at all!  He smiled back at me, and walked over to stand in front of Marty’s riser.  Linnell, meanwhile, had turned to look for Danny asking  “Where is he?”  Finding Danny’s new spot, Linnell told him “Okay Danny, we can start the song.”

This led into Museum of Idiots.  Danny does seem to get a bit nervous about starting this song, which makes sense because it’s him all by himself for the first few measures.  I also think that the Johns tend to intentionally go off on tangents before this song just to tease him about it, but that’s only speculation.

Istanbul was very similar to the previous night (which means it was great).  I realized that Dan is playing both his acoustic and his electric guitar during the course of this song, which is awesome!

They finished out the set with Theme from Flood, but were back on soon for their first encore.  This started out with New York City.  Most of the time, their live version of this song starts off with an almost lullaby-esque quality to the first verse, before being kicked up into a super high-energy song from the second verse onward.  During  this performance though, that transition never happened, meaning that the whole song was performed in that softer tone, with Flans sweetly singing and the gentle xylophone tones on Linnell’s keyboard.  It was absolutely beautiful, but perhaps not entirely intentional.  I saw some of the guys exchanging ‘wtf’ looks during and after the song, and as soon as the song was over, Linnell told us all he was a bit confused.

They played Doctor Worm next, with Linnell changing the settings on the keyboard for Dan once again. Once it was over, as they were leaving the stage again, Marty smacked his head straight into a mic as he was walking offstage.  I guess he wasn’t looking where he was going, but he shook it off and seemed fine.

The second encore started with She’s An Angel, the version that starts with just Linnell singing so wonderfully.  They finished out their evening by playing The Guitar, with Curt and Linnell giving us the Future of Sound.  During FoS Marty, who was keeping time on his kick drum, had his hands above his head, and was moving them slightly as if he might clap, then jerking them back apart, which was beautifully bizarre.  Finishing the Guitar, Flans thanked us all for coming out and they left the stage for the night.

After the show, Marty and Danny were back on to give things out, Danny with a huge pile of stickers that he began passing out right away.  After a few moments, he broke off to give out setlists.  After giving one to me, he said “Goodnight, sweetie,” and touched my shoulder.  I left the venue feeling lighter than air.

[lycorogue]

Marinette’s Song: Chapter 6

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

UPDATE (2/15/20): You can also now read this story over on AO3, on FFN, or on DA.

Summary: Whenever Luka creates music it affects people. He can’t handle having to hide his music anymore, and so he goes to the Tom & Sabine Charms and Potions shop for some help. Can Marinette’s witchcraft allow Luka to finally share his music with the world? Witch and Mythological Magic AU

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 10,943 Words This Chapter: 1796

Status: Completed; 7 chapters

Disclaimer: I wanted to anchor Marinette’s magic in Wiccan as opposed to “Hollywood witchcraft”, but I’m Christian. I tried to do my research, but I also know I’m taking a lot of creative liberties. If you notice any glaring misrepresentation of Wiccan, please let me know.

All Luka could sense was the warmth of Marinette's skin against his, her soft breath against the back of his neck, and the chords playing in his head. He pictured her leaning in to kiss his cheek, and felt his face burn with a blush.

Marinette hovered, frozen in place by the simple action of Luka placing his hand over hers; holding it against his collarbone. The fingers on her other hand briefly brushed against the back of his neck - sending tingles down Luka's spine – as she tightened her grip on the twine. Her breath slowed until Luka could barely feel it anymore.

The moment was lost when Tikki again chirped at her owner. Marinette slid her hand out from under Luka's, and instead rested hers on top, silently instructing him to hold the snake charm in place. She then gently tugged again at the string, making sure it was taught but not too snug before tying it in place.

“Does- does this work for you? It's not too tight, is it?”

“It's perfect, Marinette. Thank you.” He turned to her, and caught her again playing with one of her earrings.

“Don't thank me yet. We still need to figure out if it works.” She returned to the Northern candle, said a small prayer, and then blew it out. She did the same for the other three candles. She then packed them and the crystals away. Nervously fidgeting with her fingernails, Marinette held out a hand for Luka. “Ready to try out the binding charm?”

He took her hand, and let her pull him out of his chair. “As ready as I can be, I guess. What do you want me to do?”

She led him back out into the store proper, then to a small door along the back wall. Opening it, she pulled Luka into a small foyer with a large, elegant stairwell: the store entrance to the Dupain-Cheng apartment they had attached to the back of their shop.

“Okay.” Marinette still had Luka's hand in hers as she faced him, but she didn't seem to remember that. “Can you sing or hum something for me? Anything. Any emotion- oh! But, please, don't make me scared. I hate being scared.”

He knew instantly what song he wanted to hum for her, but he had to be certain the charm worked first. He didn't want his power to somehow influence Marinette, and taint her song. Luka then thought of the gray sky and how melancholy he was only an hour before, and debated humming as he did on The Liberty. He couldn't chance the charm not working, and him depressing Marinette, though. She only deserved happiness. So he tried to make her laugh.

He started humming a playful tune, some notes low, others forced him to hum in falsetto. He concentrated on not moving as he hummed, hoping to look as serious as possible in order to try to take out as many extra influencing components as possible.

Marinette laughed. She snorted back her chuckle, but still leaned against him to hold herself upright.

The charm hadn't worked.

“I'm-I'm sorry.” Marinette massaged her mouth to try to get back to a straight face. “Your voice was lovely, it really was. It's just- you looked so goofy! You were just so serious when you hit those high notes, and-” She laughed again.

“That's not it. It's my power. I don't think-”

“No!” She stomped a foot and dropped Luka's hand so she could use both to push him towards the stairs. “No, you just threw me is all. The charm works. It's got to! Here. Go up a few stairs so I can't see you, then try again, okay?”

Luka climbed up six steps, and Marinette leaned with her back against the banister. She took a few deep breaths to try to calm her giggles, then waved for him to try again. He started humming the same song, and she instantly snorted back another chuckle.

“No, not that one! I can only picture you looking silly. This doesn't count. Try again. Try again.”

He thought a moment, and then hummed a new song. It was nostalgic, with tones of 1950s jukebox crooning. He pictured Marinette in a pink poodle skirt with large white dots and her hair in a wavy high ponytail; his own blue and teal hair slicked back and off his forehead. His white t-shirt tucked into tight pants and his leather jacket draped around Marinette's shoulders.

She didn't react. She didn't move. She simply hummed satisfaction before clapping.

“Perfect! Didn't feel anything!” She spun around, bouncing in place as she reached up to rest her hands on top of Luka's along the banister. “I mean, your voice is good, but I didn't feel anything special- anything extra I mean. I think this worked, I really do! Oh! We need to test it out with an instrument. Give me a minute.” She shifted away from the stairs, and caught the charm shop out of the corner of her eye. “Oops, could you also watch the front of the store for me? If anyone comes in could you please let them know we'll be right with them?”

Luka nodded, and Marinette tucked Tikki into a pocket inside her jacket so the poor frog wouldn't have to cling onto Marinette's shoulder. She then sprinted to the foot of the stairs and bolted up to the top floor, pausing only briefly as she passed Luka so she could place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. A few minutes later she came back down, taking the steps two at a time. Lumbering behind her was her father, a gentle giant of a man.

“Okay,” she grabbed Luka's hand and tugged him towards the blue double doors that made up the household's front doors; separate from the store. “Papa said he'll cover the rest of my shift. Come on!”

“Where are we going?”

“Trying out the charm with instruments involved, silly.” The two teens jogged a few blocks down the road to a music shop. Stopping for a couple of seconds at the entrance to catch their bearings, Marinette spotted the guitars and pulled him towards them. Picking up the first acoustic she came across, she passed it over to Luka.

He stared around the store. There weren't too many patrons, but there was still a salesman with a mother-son duo looking at a drum kit. Luka's grip tightened around the neck of the guitar, but then he looked over at Marinette. She was smiling so sweetly, itching to hear him play. She mouthed 'it's okay' to him, then tapped her own throat roughly where his new choker lay.

Taking a slow inhale, he just as slowly released it, then strummed the guitar. He hoped the charm truly worked, otherwise he would really need to apologize to the mother and salesman. Playing eight quick notes to set up the melody, he rapidly plucked the strings in a very perky, Mariachi-paced beat. His fingers flew faster and faster, imagining a frantic dance, a massive fiesta, chaos in party form. He had told Marinette that he didn't purposefully project emotions onto people, but this time he wanted to push his hereditary magic as hard as he could, to make sure the charm truly did work.

The ten-year-old boy sat behind a set of drums, just banging aimlessly on them with sticks; completely off beat from Luka. So Luka stepped closer to the drums, his fingers starting to sting as he raced them up and down the neck of the guitar. The mother turned, as did the salesman. The boy tried to play faster to try to match Luka. The guitar's notes hurricaned off the instrument. Faster. Wilder. Luka pictured how his mom might have played in her youth, and let the chaos of her music bleed through him.

Eventually the boy stopped trying to play with Luka, a pout on his face when he realized he couldn't keep up. The mother gawked, and the salesmen quirked an eyebrow; intrigued. Luka finished his song, and Marinette wildly applauded with a few hoots and whistles. The salesman and the mother joined in, with more controlled claps.

“You've got quite the talent, son,” the salesman said. “Interested in that guitar?”

Luka simply looked down at the instrument in his hand. He did it. He played a guitar with as much maniac energy as he could muster, and everyone stayed calm as they listened. With tears tracing down his cheeks, Luka wrapped Marinette into a tight hug.

“It works! It really works!” He sobbed as he laughed, unsure what to do with his emotions now that he was free.

She laughed and hugged him back. “I'm so glad. You are an amazing musician, Luka. I can't wait to hear what other music you create.”

Luka scooped her up by her waist, holding her high over his head as he swung her around in a tight circle. “You are so amazing, Marinette. I don't know what I would have done without your help. I have no clue how to thank you. Oh, wait.” He put her down and rummaged through his pocket, pulling his few Euros out. “I forgot to pay.”

“Uh, speaking of paying?” the salesmen ventured.

Marinette flashed red in embarrassment as she took the guitar from Luka and put it back on the display. “Sorry. No. We're good. Sorry again for interrupting.” She then grabbed Luka's wrist and pulled him back out of the store.

“Marinette, here.” Luka held out his money once more, but Marinette only plucked a two-Euro coin out of his pile. Luka gawked at her, then down at his still mostly-full hand, and then back at her. “Two Euro? That's it? For everything? No. I have to properly pay you. How much is the session and choker really?” He flipped through the bills and counted the coins he had. A little over twenty-six Euros left; that had to be at least a good chunk.

“Consider it a friend's discount. That, and maybe the price of admission to hear you play.” She winked and gave a little giggle that made Luka's heart soar.

“I truly appreciate that, Marinette, but that's still not nearly enough.” He then perked up as a plan came to mind, “But I think I can make up the difference. Come on.” He took her hand and started running back to the Seine.

“Where are we going?”

“It's my turn to take the lead. Follow me, okay?”

“Of course.” Marinette rotated her hand so she had a better grip within his, and squeezed tight.

Read the final chapter

@discoveringmiraculouswriters​

I have to admit that when I was writing Luka’s song in the music shop that I was thinking of these guys playing “Gerudo Valley” from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

[hanhan156]

A new fic to my Stadium Tour series

Tumblr has been a pain in the ass for me recently. First, my sideblog’s posts’ tags are not shown in the feed and secondly, my last fic’s link disappeared suddenly from the tag feed. I have no clue why - maybe the god’s of Tumblr didn’t like when Paul was laughing at Reesh’s goofy outfit.

Anyways, I keep my fingers crossed and post this fic straight here. Enjoy. ~

ps. Once again, it's just my headcanons, no means to offend anybody. I'm just playing around the characters. This time, there's a bit of angst, but in the end I promise, it's gonna be fine.

Tales from the Stadium Tour pt. 2: Night terrors

Only two months to the start of their biggest tour ever, and everyone is understandably being exhausted as hell. Nobody hasn't said or done anything to it before their lead guitarist cracks and threatens to quit the whole band.

Luckily, Paul is there for him.

Being a world-famous band, some days tended to be the best ever, while some were being the absolute worst. Today, evidently, the latter - at least for their lead guitarist.

“So ein Misthaufen!!! Fuck this lousy band and fuck this even lousier tour!!!” Richard yelled, after another string from his guitar broke in the middle of the song. He usually treated his precious instrument like a woman he adored, but at this stage of upset, he almost threw it to the brick wall. “I said in the first place that this stadium tour was the dumbest idea we’ve ever had. It’s gonna be just a fucking farce the whole thing, I tell you!”

The guitarist rushed demonstratively towards the door turning to his fellow band members the last time before exiting the room. “I’m gonna leave this whole Scheisse, so have a nice tour without me!!!”

Schneider, confused and annoyed from the strange situation, stood up behind his drum kit. He had to interrupt this somehow. “C’mon Reesh, we’ve had way worse moments before. What the hell are you talking about quitting now? Should we cancel all the sold-out stadium shows then, huh? Don’t be ridiculous. It’s been just a bad day, it’s unnecessary to act like that!” He didn’t think they really had played so poorly – hell’s, back in the days, they’d even performed to full festival audiences, completely wasted, and with all of their instruments being out of tune.

“Hire a fucking substitute, it’s your problem now. I don’t care anymore! So verpiss dich!!” Richard snorted and showed the rudest hand sign known in the western culture to his band members before slamming the door and disappearing from their practice.

Stiff atmosphere landed the room. The question marks inside the other band members’ heads were almost visible. What on earth was that? Flake stared at his keyboard without saying anything. He really hated drama and usually when that occurred, he wanted to discuss and settle things with diplomacy rather than with yelling and swearing. He had to admit that he was sometimes a bit frightened about the melodramatic attitude their lead guitarist had. Flake knew that Richard was emotionally unstable - mostly, because of his neglecting family and other difficulties he had encountered through his life, so it was definitely understandable - but still, he was never prepared for the drama. He would have wanted to help the poor man, but didn’t really know, how.

In the other corner, Ollie was playing some random bass riff without an amplifier. He tried to keep himself busy and hide his disorientation as well. Schneider was bit in a shock and was handling it with never-ending gabbing.

“What the fuck was that, why he had to be so mean? He should definitely learn some manners, he can’t say things like that or show us the middle finger, like he would be the boss. We are all adults, for god’s sake…” He inhaled and continued, a notable concern in his voice: “Where did that thing about quitting come from? Right now, just two months before Gelsenkirchen? I don’t understand, why is he being such an asshole…”

“That’s enough,” Till interrupted their drummer’s rambling and cleared his throat, continuing: “Yes, he was being an ass towards us, but we shouldn’t judge him still. As you said Schneider, we are all adults, so let’s act like ones, even though Reesh didn’t. We all have our bad moments, and bad days, but we’ll still stick together, right?”

Paul was sitting legs crossed in the middle of the stage, listening to the discussion - or it seemed more like an argument now. To be honest, he wouldn’t have wanted to participate anyhow to this, but he didn’t want anyone to be upset though. Richard had once said that their band’s relationship was like a marriage, so despite all the uncomfortable things happening, he still felt responsible of their band members - especially Richard, who he cared deeply.

“I agree with you that he’s been like a bear shot in the ass lately, but still, we shouldn’t hate him. There must be an explanation to all of this,” Paul said and turned towards their singer, desperation in his voice: “Till, what should we do now?”

The singer just shrugged his shoulders.

Schneider, still annoyed, carried on his ranting: “So what could help then, huh? Should we let the diva continue being an ass towards us? What if he was serious about quitting, what are we gonna do then? Cancel all the shows, get real jobs? Guys, I’m definitely not accepting this. Not at all. We shouldn’t always go his way.”

There was a brief silence in the tight atmosphere before Till gestured Paul outside the rehearsal room. “Can I have a word with you, privately?”

The puzzled guitarist nodded and followed.

“Have you noticed anything…unusual in Reesh’s behavior recently?” Till asked when they were just the two of them.

Paul was thinking for a while what to answer. “Yes. When I think about it, he’s been even more annoying than usually,” he tried to ease the tight atmosphere, but Till still looked dead serious, so he clarified, “or I mean that he really gets annoyed even about the smallest things nowadays. Sometimes, I don’t dare to say anything to him because everything seems to upset him more. He also looks exhausted and doesn’t have the energy he usually has. He seems like…he’s not being himself anymore.”

“Exactly,” Till answered. He was happy to hear that Paul had noticed the same things as him.

“Do you have any idea, what might it be? You’ve known each other quite a long time so has he been like that before?”

“Couple of times, yes. You know that he’s being sometimes unnecessarily dramatic, but I think this time, he has a reason.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you have to admit that we - especially I - sounded like a vulture’s diarrhea ass today. You know how perfectionist Reesh is, so it made him even more distressed, and now he must think that our band is a total bullshit in general.”

“I agree that we weren’t at our best, but of course we’ve had bad days before and always managed still. I just don’t understand what made him to crack like that now.”

Till stared at the wall, avoiding Paul’s eyes, when he said: “I think he is mostly annoyed to himself rather than to us. He is clearly in a huge stress about this tour, about the news songs, about every single damn detail you can imagine. I can see that he’s not being his lively self, as you mentioned before. He tries to control everything too much and now, just two months before the tour should start, he has realized that it’s impossible to handle everything with a way he’d want to.”

Paul didn’t know what to think. In his opinion the stadium tour had been a good idea, something new and exciting for them. They’d had so much fun while creating their crazy-ass performance and the good old creative vibes had been around them. It felt amazing to play together once again, and like a cherry on top, it had lit that inner fire Paul had missed for a long time. He was also thrilled to perform the new songs - despite they didn’t have any clue yet, would the audience even like them, he was happy to play something new beside the old classics to which he was a bit fed up with. To be honest, he was even relieved that they had deleted Feuer Frei from their set list - even though it was a popular song, musically Paul thought it was one of their worst.

But, of course, when speaking of this kind of massive tour, everything doesn’t always go as expected. Paul didn’t mind it so much and he liked the idea that there was always room for some improvisation and surprises. The most important thing was that they and their audience enjoyed themselves. Besides, you’d always learn from failures and you could laugh at them later. He didn’t really understand, why Richard had to be so concerned about everything.

One thing his fellow guitarist had said before worried him the most. “Do you think he was serious with this ‘I quit’ bullshit?”

Till looked uneasy as well. “I don’t know. He is pretty unpredictable to be honest.”

“Then, what should we do? You know him the best, so should you go to talk to him?”

“Not me.”

“Why?”

“Because he doesn’t listen to me. It might make him to feel even worse. If he sees me, he probably just wants to smack me in the face.”

“So, what’s the solution then? Should we just let him be?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s not once or twice he has ended up doing something stupid in bad mood.”

After a brief silent moment, Till looked Paul, almost like a begging dog. “Can you go to talk to him? I think you are the only chance we have now.”

The guitarist gave a laugh. “Me? What the hell, I’m not a professional psychologist. Besides, you know him way better than me.”

“It doesn’t matter, who knows him the best. Have you happened to notice the way he looks at you, listens to everything you say? He clearly adores you, so I think you should do it. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll figure out something else.”

Oh mein Gott. “But what am I supposed to say? I…I’m not good at this kind of stuff. What if I make him to feel even worse?”

“Just improvise,” Till said, and patted Paul’s shoulder, trying to make him to relax. Instead, the other man gulped notable loud. A huge pile of responsibility was on his shoulders now.

What the hell did I just promise.

Finding their angsty little teenager ended up to be pretty easy; Paul just had to follow the thick fog hovering in the corridor. Seriously, he should cut down that smoking.

In no time, Richard was hearing a knock on his door. Verdammt.

“For fuck’s sake, lass mich Ruh!”

“Sorry to interrupt, but can I come in?”

Hearing Paul’s voice cooled Richard down a tiny bit. At first, he’d been completely sure that it was Till who came to interrupt his own peace. Now he was so surprised that he couldn’t even reply anything to the other guitarist’s question. The other part of him wanted to welcome him in, hug him as tight as he could and weep all of his sorrows to the other man, while the other part just wanted to pout alone and act like nothing was wrong.

When Paul didn’t hear anything, he decided to take a risk and come in even without a permission. At least, there wasn’t that childish swearing anymore.

“You know very well that we all agreed earlier that we are not smoking inside,” he said, trying not to sound too judgemental. He knew that Richard was an eternal rebel, but still, he should at least try to obey the rules they had set together.

Even though Paul didn’t mean it, Richard took the other man’s comment as an insult. “Oh, I didn’t know that my stepfather has taken a form of Paul suddenly.” Even a thought of that horrible family member made Richard to shiver a bit.

Paul sighed. “You know very well that I didn’t mean to sound like him, just that some of the tour staff told us that they might get a terrible headache from cigarette smoke. We don’t want anyone to get sick at this point. You are not a teenager anymore, so you should start to respect others’ opinions as well.”

Just to annoy Paul more, his fellow band member lighted up another cigarette even though the first one wasn’t finished yet. Richard didn’t even bother to give a glance to the other man, like he would have been just thin air to him.

“Hallooo Mister, I’m talking to you now!” Paul shouted, waving his hands at the same time in front of the cocky man.

But still, Richard just continued smoking, without saying anything.

Paul tried to think what to do. Sensible talking clearly didn’t work now so he had to make up another kind of tactic.

Okay, you asked for this, you damn teenage diva.

Without any prior warning, Paul sat on Richard’s lap, dumped the precious cigarette to one of the many beer cans on the floor, and turned the other man’s head, forcing him to look straight into his eyes.

“Do I finally have your attention, Herr Kruspe?” Paul asked, in a provoked tone. If this wouldn’t work, he would suggest to the guys that maybe they should hire a new lead guitarist after all.

But, to Paul’s surprise, despite his earlier arrogant acting, Richard’s face didn’t look as aggressive as he had sounded. Instead, his eyes were actually glossy. The sight sent a wave of empathy inside Paul and now he was really concerned instead being annoyed. Okay, this must be something serious now.

“Reesh, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Richard answered, turning his eyes from the other man’s inquisitive, yet sympathetic, gaze. I am not a fucking baby, so don’t you dare to pity me like that.

But resiliently, Paul continued: “It’s clearly ‘nothing’ when you are almost crying.”

Richard didn’t like it when Paul had to see him in this weak state. “You shouldn’t have come here. I bet that Till sent you.”

“It doesn’t matter who send me and why. I am seriously worried about you. In fact, we all are.”

Richard didn’t say anything, he just stared at the table in front of them even though it was difficult when the other man was sitting on his lap, being so freaking close to him. But to be honest, in any other situation, the other man’s proximity would have actually felt really pleasant. Right now though, he was so distressed that it was difficult to concentrate on anything.

“Reesh, honestly, we all are under a huge stress because of the upcoming concerts and stuff, but how you are acting and threatening to leave us, are far from normal. Please, tell me, what is concerning you,” Paul begged.

There was once again a silent moment. For a while Paul thought that this was a lost case - maybe Richard didn’t want to tell him anything and would rather to stay alone. This was probably a stupid idea in the end. Damn you Till and your “just improvise”.

But, just before Paul thought about leaving from the other man’s lap, Richard broke the eerie silence with a huge sigh. “Y-you are correct, I am actually in a huge stress.”

Now Paul’s attention arose again. Maybe this isn’t a lost case after all. “Do you want to clarify what do you mean with ‘a huge stress’? You know very well that I’m not a telepath, so I can’t enter your thoughts if you are not telling me, what’s going on.”

“I’m just so fucking scared of…all of this,” the other man managed to say, with a trembling voice. He desperately tried to fight back tears - it was too embarrassing to cry when somebody was witnessing. Richard was so used to keep his tough mask and now when it was falling off, he felt suddenly so helpless.

“Scared of what exactly?”

“Of everything…about this new tour and…stuff.”

Without getting a very clarifying answer, Paul tried to keep on asking. “We all can see that you are not being yourself. Can I ask you, have you even slept or eaten properly? Cigarettes and coffee are not considered as food.”

There was no point to lie or hide anymore, so whatever Paul was asking, Richard had to answer. Shit. “Well, a couple of hours now and then.”

“How much did you sleep last night for example?”

“Well, actually I…umm…didn’t sleep. And when I think about it, maybe I didn’t eat anything either. I really cannot remember…My head is being a bit fuzzy because there’s so much going on.”

“Holy hell, did you know that at our age we should care about our health even more! That’s not gonna end up really well, if you continue that kind of lifestyle. We are not young anymore, our motor doesn’t run with only drugs and alcohol!”

“Seriously, why do you have to sound like some fucking nurse now.” Of course, Richard knew very well that what he was doing wasn’t really healthy, but he couldn’t help it.

“It doesn’t matter how I sound, the most important thing is you now. But could you tell me, why haven’t you slept? Is there something bothering you?”

Richard nodded and shivered a bit. Fuck it, maybe I just have to tell him. “I can’t sleep because…because…I’ve had so horrible nightmares lately that I’m actually…afraid of falling asleep…it’s easier to stay up as long as I can.”

“Do you want to tell me what kind of nightmares?” Paul knew that he really started to sound like a psychologist, but he was so concerned, that he didn’t care about it right now.

They’d been sitting on the couch for a while and Richard had been trying to avoid Paul’s physical and mental proximity as best as he could. But, as he started to open up, he had a sudden urge to seek for attention from his friend. To Paul’s complete - yet, pleasant - surprise, without a warning, Richard grabbed him tightly and started to pour out, sobbing desperately at the same time: “I’ve…had of course nightmares before, but…not as vivid as these…i…it’s so fucking disturbing…”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of now, I’m with you,” Paul tried to calm his friend down, stroking his hair gently. “What is happening in your nightmares?”

Richard cleared his throat and started to mumble to Paul’s shoulder: “It begins…pretty normally. We are having a gig, everything goes well, and we are having fun, even though…I’m a bit dizzy when I see the huge audience. Seriously, it seems like there are millions of people there. Just staring at us. And I feel a nasty twitch in my stomach when I think about how they are…judging us, especially me.”

“You know that in our concerts, most of the people are probably so wasted that they don’t even remember anything. They don’t care how you sound or look, they are just having a party of their lives,” Paul said, trying to ease the other man’s horror.

But Richard didn’t hear what Paul was saying, he just kept continuing: “Then, we are doing the boat thing…I always thought it was a bad idea. You know what happened to Flake earlier.”

“And you know that Till has said you thousand times that you don’t have to do it, if you are afraid.”

“But…I don’t want to be…a coward.”

“You’re definitely far from being a coward.”

I wish I would believe that also. Richard gulped and continued to describe his terrible dream: “Everything is pretty ok and I see you are doing fine while you are boating through the audience - in fact, you seem to enjoy yourselves with Schneider, shaking hands with the people and stuff…I’m jealous to you when you manage to remain so calm.

When it’s finally my turn to step in, I feel like I have to throw up. When I look at all the people, they resemble an enormous pack of greedy wolves, ready to tear me alive. It’s fucking terrifying...

Then, I manage to go with the boat for a while, and when I’m finally convinced that it’s gonna be alright, suddenly something happens…I fall down and hit my head. I nearly pass out, and try to shout for help, but…nobody’s listening. Instead, the audience - looking like fucking werewolves with their huge red eyes - is tearing me apart, kicking and hitting me in the face so hard it’s impossible to breathe. I’m coughing blood and spitting out pieces of my teeth. At the same time, those animals are shouting…pretty nasty stuff to me.”

Paul noticed that as the story carried on, his breathing was getting shallow and his hands, still caressing his friend’s hair, were shaking. Yet, he tried to remain as calm as possible because he wanted Richard to tell him all, despite how horrible it would be. “What kind of…insults?”

“They are calling me…” In this part, it was difficult for Paul to get what Richard was saying, because his voice was trembling so much. Still, he tried his best to listen. “…a numb, a complete failure and that I have just failed through my life. That all I have achieved so far is a fucking farce… that nobody cares about me and…I would be better off dead. Some of those freaking werewolves even have the judging voice of my stepfather. He always thought that I’m nothing, I’m just a total loser. After all of these years his words…still haunt me.”

“Reesh, that’s so horrible…I’m so sorry to hear.” Paul wasn’t sure, what kind of words were the most suitable in this kind of situation. For Richard though, he wasn’t hoping to hear the right words, he was just so relieved that somebody was listening to him - and he was even more relieved when the person listening to him was Paul.

Richard parted from their embrace, now looking straight into the other man’s eyes. His grey eyes were filled with pure horror and self judgement. “But the worst part is just coming up.”

“Do you…do you want to tell it to me?”

Richard squeezed his friend’s shoulders so tight it hurt, but it didn’t matter.

“Reesh, please tell me. Everything is ok now, I’m here for you…”

So, the horrifying story continued. “In the end, the audience disappears and I’m relieved when I see all of you approaching me. I raise my hands, begging for your help, but you… just continue doing the same terrible things as the audience…Till points and laughs at me…that laugh is still echoing in my head…Rest of you behind him start to mock me. I also hear somebody of you saying that thank god you are finally getting rid of me, because you all hate me so much.

And in the end, the rest of the guys, expect for you, leave the scene. You stare at me, looking so curious - like a scientist glaring at his guinea pig - and so unusually…cold. I’m drained and exhausted, still hoping that at least you would help me. But, in the end…you come close to me and whisper to my ear…” Richard’s voice suddenly broke and he couldn’t breathe properly anymore.

Paul’s whole body was on goosebumps, but still, he wanted Richard to continue: “What…is it I whisper to you?”

The other man answered with his eyes closed: “You whisper to me that…’you fucking piece of shit…du bist ein Scheitern’…”

“…A failure? Why would I ever call you that? That’s… so fucking horrible…I’m so sorry…I would never call you with that horrendous word…”

“And you keep repeating it over and over until I’m begging you to stop, but you just continue…”

“Holy motherfucking hell, you should know that I would never, ever say anything like that to you…”

“And in the end, you spit on me and disappear, laughing with a voice so cruel that it…still hurts me to even think about it…I’d want to cry, but I can’t. I just lay on the dirty ground, alone, torn in the pieces mentally and physically.”

Paul was completely shocked, squeezing the other man tightly. “Holy shit…why am I acting like that in your dreams… I certainly hope that you are not really thinking that I would ever do something like that to you. Not in this lifetime. Not me, Till, Flake, Ollie or Schneider. We all love and support you and we’ll stick together, whatever happens. The audience can be shit sometimes, but we’ll always be there for you. For each other.”

Richard was crying to Paul’s shoulder, this time without even bothering to hide his awful feelings. Even though it was horrible to say out loud all these things which had bothered him for so long, it felt like a catharsis to finally speak about those horrors.

Richard parted from Paul’s embrace to blow his nose. “Es tut mir wirklich leid…how embarrassing, an adult man weeping like this.”

“Hey, there’s definitely no need to apologize.”

“Yes, there is. I was an ass towards all of you today. I really don’t know why I said all those cruel things…I’m just somehow so shocked and horrified about everything…”

“Well, all the guys were quite confused about the scene you created, but they will definitely understand and accept your apology. These are hard times for all of us, you are not alone.”

Richard wasn’t really convinced, so he continued: “Why am I so weak, why do I have to show my emotions like this…you all seem to be so happy about this new tour so why am I acting like this…”

“We all are afraid, of course. I’m as well and sometimes, it’s difficult for me to sleep, even though you know pretty well how good I’m at napping.”

Richard gave a dry laugh through his tears. “Yes, I definitely remember that lousy night after a gig in Mexico City, in that even lousier motel bunk we had to share. You were snoring so loud, and it was so freaking hot next to you, that I couldn’t sleep a second.”

Paul grinned. It was a good sign that Richard was joking, so he could be distracted from all the terrible things they had just discussed about. “To be honest, I don’t even remember anything from that night.” They both made a sound so weird that it was difficult to tell whether they were laughing or crying. It warmed up Paul’s heart to see his friend smiling, at least a tiny bit.

“But yeah, coming back to our Stadium Tour, it’s gonna be a huge thing for us. A challenge and an enormous step forward. I’m excited and yes, so afraid at the same time, but also, I am willing to just jump into the crazy rollercoaster - to see where it will lead us. And I’m completely sure that in the end, we will succeed and be even a bigger band we already are.”

“But how are you able to manage with all the fears and concerns? You seem so calm while I feel like I’m breaking into pieces even though the tour hasn’t even started yet.”

“I think the biggest reason I manage is that I know that I’m not alone. Whatever happens, we’ll stick together. We can, and we actually are bound, to ask for help - you should remember that as well. We don’t have to act like we are stronger than we are - we are, in the end, just a bunch of normal guys. Not some superheroes.”

Richard sighed. “I wish I could be like that as well. This freaking perfectionism is killing me.”

Paul understood what Richard meant. His friend was definitely that kind of a person, who’d be concerned if 1 person out of 100 didn’t like him, and he’d remember that single negative feedback for the rest of his life, even though there were actually 99 people worshipping him.

“Reesh, let me tell you something.”

There was a puzzled gaze in the other man’s eyes when Paul turned him to look at him again. “I just want you to know that you are an amazing person and a talented musician. Honestly, you are fucking amazing at anything you do. And if there happens to be someone who doesn’t like you, it’s his problem.”

Richard was blinking his eyes, confused from all of this. Still, after all these years, he wasn’t used to compliments. It felt a bit similar when passionate fans came to him, praising him from head to toe. “Now you must be just flattering me.”

Paul looked at him with a serious gaze. “Everything I said before is true, it’s not just some lame flattering. You deserve so much more positive things. I said it because I lo…” He cleared his throat and continued, feeling a rush of warmth on his cheeks at the same time: “I…umm, adore you very much.”

“Thank…you.” Richard was completely dumbfounded by the sweet words.

The two men were still embracing each other. Richard felt like his legs were getting a bit numb from Paul’s weight, but it didn’t matter. His whole body had calmed down, and he actually felt like he could finally fall asleep now, being safe with his friend.

His dreamy state was interrupted though when the other man asked: “Just one last thing. Were you serious with this ‘I quit’ stuff?”

Richard smiled. “Maybe I admit that I overreacted a bit. Of course, I’m not quitting, because I don’t want to get rid of any of you. Especially from you, Paul. I enjoy irritating you way too much.”

Hearing that felt like a heavy load finally dropped from Paul’s shoulders. “That’s wonderful to hear.” Then he came closer and whispered to Richard’s ear: “And you are definitely not getting rid of me, never in this lifetime.”

They both chuckled and Richard went back to his sweet, dreamy state. His eyelids weighed like led and slowly, he was dragged into the miraculous world of his unconscious mind.

Suddenly, Paul said, like from the distance, even though he was still close: “We all should relax.”

“…but I thought we have a tight schedule,” the other, drowsy man, mumbled.

“Yes, but it doesn’t help if we forcefully continue, exhausted and drained. We’d be too tired when the actual tour starts. We should take a tiny break.”

There was complete silence and Paul could only hear Richard’s calm, rhythmic breathing. “Are you sleeping under me?” he asked, pressing a couple of light kisses on the other man’s forehead.

“…maybe…does it matter?”

Paul gave a laugh. “Not at all, just that it might be a bit uncomfortable position.” He finally stood up and immediately, Richard positioned himself to the sofa more comfortable so he could take a nap. Paul handed him a blanket and sat next to him, caressing him still.

“I actually got an idea what we could do.”

“…huh?” was all that Richard was able to answer from the edge of consciousness.

“I’ll tell you later. Now, just get some sleep, mein Liebling.”

­­­­­­­­­­­­­“Wonderful to hear that he’s now resting,” Till said while they were walking towards the little kebab kiosk nearby the rehearsal place. Even though Till tried to maintain a healthy lifestyle, Paul’s idea of getting some junk food and watching a crappy movie from Ollie’s endless B film -collection, was a very good one indeed. It was no use to do anything meaningful anymore today and they all really needed something else to think about than the tour. It had been a long time since they did something else together than music related stuff.

There was still one question bothering the singer. “But I’m curious, how did you manage to calm him down when he was so upset earlier?”

“Well, I had my own ways,” Paul said, grinning himself.

“You two clearly have something special going on.”

With a dreamy look in his eyes, them fixed to the red sky, Paul whispered so quietly that Till could barely hear it: “…vielleicht…”

[fullstop-official]

A Hellish Freak Disaster with Burning Rubble and No Survivors

AKA: Chapter One - July 18

In three days, everything will change.

But right now, Travis Longfield is swatting his free hand at my shoulder as punishment for having my feet up on the space above the glovebox in the Gator – his Wrangler nicknamed aptly for its military-appropriate paint job. I have to laugh a little at his feeble attempt to keep straight on the road and hit me at the same time, more to mock him than anything else. But I finally give in and give up my recline before he takes his chance at the next stop sign to go for the ankles.

“You care about this thing too much, dude,” I tease, “I’m not allowed to sit comfortably – Jesus, I can’t even eat in here!”

“Do you want her to end up like Cole’s car?” The Gator, of course, has always been a her. “He wrecked that Cherokee. It can’t be saved. They should write it off for internal damage.”

“Yeah, okay. Sorry I upset your girlfriend here. I won’t dirty her up.”

“I’m not really worried about that,” he says with a smirk. “You’re not even the one dirtying up your own girlfriend.”

His comment makes my mood immediately plummet, and, as we pull into the Mechis’ driveway behind a sleek, black Lexus, my mood suddenly becomes a satellite that drops from the stratosphere, falling down, down, down toward the earth at thousands of miles per hour and on fire. Travis parks the Gator and we both climb out. He takes a moment to pull his guitar case from the back seat before we go about picking our way around the aforementioned Lexus and Cole’s hopelessly-stained, wrapper-littered Grand Cherokee to reach the side door to the garage.

We enter, and we’re the last two to arrive. Cole is sprawled out on the duct-taped loveseat by the wall that’s way too tiny to fit all of him. He looks over and his shaggy and badly-highlighted hair flips naturally as his head turns. Still, our appearance isn’t enough to steal his attention away from loudly strumming a progression of power chords on his guitar in order to mess with Matt. Matt is attempting to tune his bass on the other side of the room in spite of the noise, but probably isn’t having an easy time without anything that resembles quiet. Bryson is on the beat-up couch opposite of Cole, scribbling in a binder that’s full of schedules, sets, general to-do lists, and other notes that he says are necessary and need to be kept – though the entire thing is so crammed with papers that it will explode one day.

My satellite mood fails to brace for impact and crashes against the ground, colliding in a hellish, freak disaster with burning rubble and no survivors when I see the Lexus’ owner practicing the screeches that she calls “vocal warmups” by her mic stand, front and center. Saying she’s my mortal enemy undoubtedly makes me sound like some sort of comic book supervillain, but I’ve never come up with anything more accurate and less theatrical and childish to describe what we have. Our rivalry would probably take an entire war map with battalions and flags to comprehend.

I met Selena Walton when we were in seventh grade – briefly – but truly got to know and dislike her the following year when our feud officially ignited. It was just shortly after that, during the same year, that the rest of us really jumped on the idea of forming the band and, by the end of eighth grade, we’d seen it through.

There was just one problem. I play the drums. Travis is lead guitar, and Cole is on second. Matt plays bass. Bryson covers keyboard when we need it for certain songs, but otherwise acts as our manager. We were good on our own, just the five of us, but when things started getting more and more serious, we had a debate about lyrics.

Cole is an incredible singer – when he’s singing unclean vocals (the screamo parts). When it comes to singing regularly, he may as well just strangle a bird on stage; the sound it would make is more or less the same. Our preferred genre of punk and its “close-enough” offshoots (we’ve found that a healthy mixture brings in a bigger audience) are starting to blur the lines a little, but we all agreed that we wouldn’t be a full-fledged screamo band. We resolved to use his talent conservatively. The rest of the guys couldn’t carry a tune to save their lives.

I can sing, but drummers stay at the back of the stage, and squishing the two roles together makes the show lose a certain kind of energy. The audience generally likes to see the singer while they’re singing. I can sing backup, but there needs to be someone up front. A hype man.

Enter Selena Walton. Unwelcomely welcomed to the band after our first five months of minimal lyrics with a three-to-two vote.

And whom I hate more than anyone else in the universe.

And maybe it would be slightly better if she didn’t front our band. I have nothing against female punk singers, or really just female singers in general. Many of them are good, even pretty great. Selena, however, is an exception. She hates the vast majority of the music that we perform. And, though what she does is technically considered singing, she is an alto who thinks she’s a soprano, which is the worst kind of alto and does not make for a spectacular – or even subpar – show. Her signature style is going up a few too many notes at the end of nearly every line, regardless of whether or not she can hit them, and it is such a pain to listen to that I’m surprised my head hasn’t shattered like glass, or exploded like Bryson’s band binder is going to do. This is all in addition to her entitled, annoying, spoiled brat attitude which is all wrapped up into one short, oblivious, bitchy, brunette package.

I wish that was the end of it, but, devastatingly, having Selena as our lead singer isn’t even the terrible part. I can deal with that. But about a year ago, band practice went from being the few hours a week that I had to tolerate the fact she exists to my own, personal hell.

Bryson’s managerial skills are sharp, but PR-wise he tends to run things like a scripted reality TV show in order to make us stand out from other local acts so people can invest in our “personal” lives. I don’t know what celebrity dating scandal gave him the idea, but a fake inter-band relationship was proposed and, by some weird misfortune, not immediately vetoed. After a ton of arguing, I literally drew the short straw.

Selena Walton is my fake girlfriend.

And I hate her.

At the very least, after a year of playing pretend (and having her hang off of me during shows after spitting in my face behind the scenes), I haven’t actually been forced to kiss her or anything yet. I think I’d have to tear off my lips and cauterize the wounds if that happened.

Bryson still sticks to his delusional claim that having us fake date is a good thing for the band, even though it causes more drama when we’re alone together than it ever does when we’re out in the public eye. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be able to keep it up because Selena only acts like she’s staying faithful to me when, in reality, she’s probably slept with every guy who’s ever looked at her for more than five seconds. Pretending that I tolerate her is a tough challenge, but I deserve an Oscar for acting like I love her.

And so, when Travis and I walk in, she pretends to ignore me, but I watch her in my peripheral when she thinks I’m not paying attention. She gives me a look; it’s a spiteful, almost disgusted scowl. For what it’s worth, I’m glad she can just barely endure my mere presence. It’s the one thing about this entire situation that makes me feel all happy and light inside.

Travis sets his case down to take out his guitar, and I go sit on the arm of the couch next to Bryson. Since we cleared out his garage to act as our rehearsal space, my setup has lived here permanently and I’m the only one who ever touches my drums. They only move for gigs, and I don’t have much to prepare before practice.

Cole gives me a subtle nod, but doesn’t stop strumming one of our originals. “S’up, Scott,” he greets me. He uses my last name instead of my first. Bryson, Matt, and Cole have all done that as long as I’ve known them – apparently, the single syllable of my surname is easier than having to waste energy saying the two in Morgan.

I glance over Bryson’s shoulder after nodding back. The paper he’s mentally wrestling with has July twentieth – Friday’s date – and the time of our show at the top. The rest is the final setlist he’s been compiling that has only just been finished. It takes us a long time to decide which songs we’ll be playing, and in what order. (I blame Selena.) The one thing that Bryson has left blank is the space after encore:.

We always do an encore. And it’s always a Paramore song because they’re the only non-objectionable option Selena likes. Paramore is an amazing group, and I do like their music, but if she doesn’t learn to like literally anyone else, I’ll start to lose my goddamn mind.

Bryson taps his pen against the paper for another minute, and then grabs the list and, leaving the space empty, shuts the binder. Our logo is on the front of it, slipped into the plastic cover. It’s just a black circle with our band name, Full Stop., inside of it in an all-caps, blocky, white font. We let Cole design it – we’d said we wanted something simple, and, though it looks like something that was created in Microsoft Paint (and it probably was), he’d delivered. Selena thinks it’s too plain, which is why I think it’s the most wonderful graphic in the world. I wear one of our T-shirts as much as possible and I’m met with her judgy glare each time.

I watch Bryson set the binder aside and look over the setlist another time before rising. “I guess we can start,” he announces. Cole’s instrument abruptly stops. The garage, however, is not entirely silent. Matt and Travis use the absence of guitar riffs to actually tune their instruments. At the very least, Selena shuts up.

I proceed over to my kit, and purposefully bump Selena’s shoulder with my arm as I pass. She’s about five-foot-four – about a head shorter than me – and it irritates her when I “accidentally” run into her. It makes my whole day. I sit on the stool and the others slowly start to claim their positions. Cole drags his amp over from the loveseat, and Travis pulls the elastic from his hair so it falls just to his shoulders. He claims having it loose helps him rock harder. I fail to see the correlation, but he’s a damn good guitarist, so I try not to question his methods.

As Matt takes his place, and Selena taps her microphone to make sure no one (me) has muted it behind her back again, I put my earplugs in and grab my sticks. They feel like an extension of my body when I hold them – like having just a little bit more to my arms. My nerves begin to hum with anticipation. I saw the first song and I’m pumped to play it.

Bryson gets started and reads the set from the paper like always: song title, and then the artist for Selena’s music-illiterate benefit. He only skips the artist if it’s one of our originals – at least she knows the titles of those. And she seems to tolerate singing them. Sometimes.

“Okay, open with This Could Be Anywhere in the World – Alexisonfire. Selena will take a sec to introduce everything, then Silver Bullet – Hawthorne Heights, right into Bring Me To The Light. Selena can improvise something after that. Green Day’s Holiday smoothly into Boulevard of Broken Dreams, then You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid – The Offspring, and this is the working title for the story of two crazy kids.”

“We never really found a title for that, did we?” Travis says teasingly. He throws a small smirk my way.

“No,” I agree in a similar manner, “We really didn’t.”

If he’s going to make fun of me, I’m taking it in stride. I wrote that particular number, and a fair chunk of our other originals. I think that sometimes my titles are pretty good, even when they’re just chorus lyrics. But sometimes – well, they’re that.

“Selena improvises something, and then we go to the Red Block,” Bryson continues without missing another heartbeat. I’m pretty sure I hear his voice raise a little to grab our focus again. “Red Flag – Billy Talent, Red Sam – Flyleaf, and Something Different – Red As Dusk. Selena says stuff. Changing – Saosin. Pressure – Paramore. Selena talks. Be Like The Zeros. Kiss Me, Kill Me – Mest, and Selena introduces the final song. Strong finish with Postcards – Amber Pacific. Got it?”

Four of us nod, or make our brief sounds of agreement. Selena ruins the unanimous confirmation.

“And my encore?”

“If I keep thinking about that, I’ll have a fucking aneurysm,” Bryson says with a straight face. He passes her the setlist. He knows if we start having that discussion now, this won’t be a rehearsal, it’ll be a homicide. “Just run through what we’ve got. We can look at that when I know this set is okay.”

She mutters, “Well, for once I’d like to know what we’re doing before the night of the gig.”

“Yeah, then maybe we could do something other than Misery Business, or Still Into You, or Rose-Colored Boy, or – no, wait. That’s about it, huh?”

She doesn’t turn, but she does stick her middle finger up at me. I hear Travis try to softly suppress amused laughter; a small, entertained huff escapes him. She hates me. It’s so great.

“Please just practice the damn set.” Bryson’s voice has shifted to something like exhausted pleading. He’s not in the mood to break up a fight today. I mean, he’s going to have to anyway – there’s not a single doubt in my mind there – but he doesn’t want to. He always gets this way so close to a show. The stick doesn’t come out of his ass until the stage lights go off.

To ease his stress a little, we do as he says.

This Could Be Anywhere in the World is one of Cole’s favourites to perform because nearly half of it is unclean vocals. This means that it’s one of my favourites to perform because Selena’s unstable wailing only has to pierce my auricular space half as much.

And it’s a ton of fun to play on drums.

Once she’s butchered her way through Silver Bullet and one of our originals, I’m introduced as the representative from California by one of Travis’ very few spoken contributions during Holiday. Even though its absolutely necessary, Selena hates the fact that I’m the best she’s got for clean backup vocals that won’t make our audience’s ears bleed. She especially despises this brief part Matt and I share – my voice and drumming and his iconic bass line – simply because it takes the attention off of her for nearly a full bridge. I sing the rebellious lyrics with a smirk shot her way. She flips me off.

Selena hates singing You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid, and sings this is the working title for the story of two crazy kids terribly in an attempt to annoy me. She makes it painfully obvious that she’s suffering through the Red Block, and gets a smidge better during Changing because a Paramore song follows. She always complains that I use too much cymbal during Pressure. I wonder if she’s actually listened to the song, or if she’s just deaf.

I watch her reach for the list again as it comes to a close and beat her to it.

“I Love How You Say We Can Be Anything But Treat Us Like Shit.”

“That’s not what it’s called!” she snaps.

“Sorry. Be Like The Zeros, parentheses: I Love How You Say We Can Be Anything But Treat Us Like Shit.”

She turns a bit just so I have the luxury of seeing her roll her eyes.

“What? Do I need to say it backwards too?”

I can visibly see the rage manifest inside of her head and, with another smirk that I can’t help at this point, and that I can’t say is innocent, I launch into a hidden talent that frustrates her to no end. I don’t know exactly how I came across it, I just know that I’m able to do it and she’s not. Travis can do it as well, and he watches me with amusement as I drive Selena up the wall. I picture the smoke coming out of her ears as she glares at me.

“Tihs ekil su taert tub gnihtyna eb nac ew yas uoy woh evol I,” I recite. “Bryson knows the title – he wrote it!”

“Just start the damn song, Scott,” Bryson sighs rather than taking a side, even though I’m right.

I don’t give Selena the chance to have the final word. The crash cymbal screams beneath my stick in the intro. Thankfully, Bryson purposefully wrote this song in the right key for her alto voice, so I don’t have to hear her try and fail to sing outside of her vocal range.

 “My mind is clouded like a smokehouse / I think I need a light to find what I was gonna say / My body’s numb and feeling funny / Lost here in a strange place / Just another average day.”

 I’m sure Bryson is relieved when we finally make it to the end of Postcards without another interruption. The first hour of practice ends with our finalized setlist played in full and no unstoppable brawls.

“Can we talk about my encore now, Bryson?” Selena demands at the final note, ever the princess.

Bryson starts to look as if he would rather eat his own hand than discuss the encore and incite her wrath, but also that he knows if we don’t talk about it beforehand, we’ll have to pick ten minutes before the show and we’ll end up doing Let The Flames Begin again.

“Okay, fine,” he relents. “Band meeting.”

I set down my sticks and pull out my earplugs as the guys put their guitars on the assorted stands. Selena leaves her mic and goes to take a seat. She hates sitting on the furniture because everything in here is a relic too shitty for a thrift store; it’s all either tearing, patched with duct tape, or just too stained or dusty to be used by anyone other than a semi-successful garage band in LA. Selena’s in one, but she doesn’t act like it.

We make it a habit to sit as far away from each other as possible. Matt and Bryson take the loveseat where Selena’s perched herself on the one not-duct-taped arm that’s probably going to need a layer of the stuff in about a month. Travis, Cole, and I take the couch.

“Thoughts?” Bryson asks. I can tell he’s bracing himself.

I am too, but I keep my mouth shut and wait for Selena to get her terrible idea out of the way first.

“We should do Ain’t It Fun,” she pitches. “It’s always a crowd-pleaser.”

“It would be if our regular crowd hadn’t already heard you sing it a hundred thousand times.”

“What’s fucking wrong with that?” Her angled eyebrows raise, and I can already see her pupils filling up with fire. If anyone else had said it, she wouldn’t be as pissed off, and that simple fact alone is why I argue in the first place.

“Should I say it forwards or backwards?” I demand. She scowls. “They’re getting bored! If we lose the audience at Underground, we won’t get gigs, and Full Stop. is just fucked! Back me up here, Bryce.”

Selena whips her head around to glare at Bryson so fast that I expect her to break her neck, and I’m almost disappointed when she doesn’t. Bryson’s biting into his cheek, not wanting to say that I’m right in order to avoid her fury, but not denying it either. The others show their agreement plainly – Matt’s mouth takes on an uncertain slant, eyes bright, and Cole can’t stop himself from nodding subtly. Travis wears a smirk. He always takes my side in this war.

“Oh, fuck you guys!” she spits. Her defeat is a delicate sound. It’s like music to my ears.

“What do you want to do, Scott?” Bryson asks. His voice is calm, a mediator.

“We already have a Paramore song in the set. We can’t do another. We need to try something new this time. An original, or–” I rifle through my mental music library. I know which songs we’ve done, and all of the options we haven’t ever tried because Selena is a brat with bad taste. “Maybe actually try some My Chemical Romance for once? They’re a fucking staple to the punk-pop genre.”

“Ew, no,” Selena interrupts. “Veto.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Where do I start? They’re terrible.”

“First of all, how dare you.”

“Here we go,” Bryson sighs. He goes unheard.

“Second, do you have a better idea?”

“Yeah, like fifty! We should do something by The Chainsmokers.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“What? They’re good!”

“No, they’re overplayed! The crowd will be asleep before we even start. They’re not even punk!”

“You’re such a fucking snob!”

“Wow! Look, everyone! The pot is calling the kettle black!”

“Guys! Holy fuck – calm down!” Bryson’s voice cuts through us both. He’s rubbing his temples to curb the migraine Selena’s clearly bringing upon him. “Can we all remember that music is subjective?”

For a moment, the silence rests. Travis is clearly entertained and firmly stuck on my side. Bryson’s trying to fight off that brain aneurysm he promised himself. Cole and Matt are somewhere between rolling their eyes and coming up with an excuse to leave.

Selena is on the brink of completely detonating. Her jaw is set, posture disturbed and rigid. She doesn’t remove her beady, flaming eyes from me, and looks like she’s trying to murder me with her sheer force of will. In her imagination, she’s probably stabbing me with one of my drumsticks. Her tiny fists are clenched.

“Marianas Trench,” she says through her teeth.

“Are you joking? You’d need a church choir just to sing half their crap,” I say. “Dead Kennedys.”

“Veto. Ed Sheeran.”

“Worse than The Chainsmokers. Jimmy Eat World.”

“What? With their one fucking song? Vance Joy.”

“Who?”

That one really makes her mad, so I grin as I say it. She knows I know who Vance Joy is – if only because she’s mentioned him four million times and butchered one of his stupid indie songs over and over again with her shrieking.

“Good Charlotte,” I suggest.

She rolls her eyes. “Twenty One Pilots.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Really?” For a brief moment, I watch her little, round face light up.

“Yeah, as soon as you can rap, feel free to buy us all synths and ukuleles. I’m sure your Daddy can afford it.”

She’s so angry that I can nearly see her brain boiling. There are a few Twenty One Pilots songs I would willingly relent to adding to a Full Stop. setlist, but at the moment I know she’s too pissed off to even name one. I almost want to laugh.

“Taylor. Swift,” she hisses, enunciating every single syllable with a seething staccato. She knows I would never agree to it and that’s the only reason why she suggests it. Everything she ever does or says is designed to make me mad. In this way, we’re one and the same.

So, I mimic her tone. “Fuck. No.” And I’m just about to throw out The Gits – not that Selena could ever dream to live up to Mia Zapata’s legacy – when–

“Wait!”

The single word from Cole breaks our staring contest. I still feel my blood thundering from the rush of adrenaline that comes with pushing Selena to her breaking point, but I turn my attention on him. Cole’s straightened up from his lax slouch and, even though he’s sitting, he’s still a human tower – it’s no wonder the football coach spent nearly two years trying to recruit him. His eyes are stretched wide with an idea.

“What?” Travis asks.

He takes the question, but turns to me. His massive hand is slapped against his forehead, an indication of an epiphany. “Punk Goes Pop.”

“Excuse me?” Selena demands. Her teeth are clenched, and her brows are high.

Cole doesn’t need to explain it to me – I’ve caught onto his idea the second my mental music library dredges up the collection. He elaborates for everyone else.

“Yeah, okay, so Fearless Records has this series where they have punk bands cover pop songs, and, like, they’ve done some Taylor Swift stuff. Uh, You Belong With Me, Trouble – oh!” – he claps abruptly as the next idea enters his head and, again, his eyes turn on me, full of excitement and what appears to be an ego boost due to his own perceived genius. He’s gesticulating with the approximate energy of a German Shepherd – “Blank Space from the volume six rerelease! Dude, I Prevail goes so fucking hard on it! I had it on repeat for a month, and I can do Eric Vanlerberghe’s parts no problem!” He’s practically already playing air guitar.

“There. See? It’s a compromise,” Matt agrees.

And maybe it seems too good to be true…

Because it is.

“Yeah, too bad we can’t do it,” I object. Bryson sighs audibly and mutters under his breath. “If we let her sing the clean vocals, it won’t sound anything like a punk song! She’ll just try to sing it exactly like the original and fuck it up!”

“Fuck you!” Selena fires at me.

“Then you sing it, Morgan.”

I give myself whiplash turning to look at Travis, and the energy of the garage turns palpable – a thick, stunned tension that I could slice through with a razor blade and a ton of effort. Arms crossed over his chest, Travis shrugs, completely relaxed and completely, unbelievably serious.

In an instant, the initial surprise melts away, and I’m more confused by his proposal than I am shocked – or maybe it’s just an intense mixture of both. But the point is that I can’t sing it! I’m a drummer! That’s the only reason she’s even here in the first place!

“What?! No!”

“Yeah! ‘What?! No!’” Selena parrots me. For once, we’re actually in agreement on something.

“Why not? You’ve got a good voice, and I know you know the song.”

“Who’s going to play the drums?!” I reason. “That’s why she’s here!”

“I suggested Taylor Swift! I don’t want him singing it!” Selena protests.

“Exactly! Then she can’t hog the stage and be an attention whore and has to settle for being a regular–”

“Morgan,” Travis interjects (scolds), still calm despite presenting me with an insane idea just a moment ago. Selena flips me off with a look of pure hatred. I generally don’t like to push it that far, but I stand by what I was about to say. Her name is synonymous with it.

“I’ll find someone to drum for you,” Bryson says.

I scoff. “What? Am I that easily replaceable?! You’re all fucking ridiculous!”

“Scott,” Bryson starts in his middleman voice. I look at our manager and lift a brow. He seems to wait until everyone has copied me and all eyes are on him.

And then he supports Travis’ idea.

Using some of the most glorious words I have ever heard in my life.

“If we can just get this over with – pick the cover of Blank Space with you on clean vocals so this discussion will fucking stop – you can dump Selena.”

I have no idea what to say.

So it comes out unfiltered.

“Oh, screw you, Bryson.”

Not meant to be hurtful. Just… I can’t even explain it – just some sort of instinctual, astonished reaction.

I would be free of Selena Walton. And I would get to steal her encore.

But I would have to sing front-and-center. Even though it’s a cover, it’s still a Taylor Swift song. I wouldn’t have to sing all of it – about half the vocals in I Prevail’s version are unclean, so Cole would take them. But it’s still a tough debate.

I can’t really feel my body. I guess the shock is still settling in. Or it has settled in pretty deep and fried my nerves or something. But, while I’m internally wrestling against my own opinions, I dare to steal a look at Selena that ends up lasting longer than just a glance. Her eyes are narrowed, her jaw is tight, and her back is rod straight. She’s still inconsolably pissed at the idea that she could end up without an encore even though she’s had plenty already, but I see something else underneath that.

She wants me to take it. She doesn’t want to have to pretend to be shackled to me any longer. The feeling is mutual.

They’re all staring at me as I weigh the pros and cons a few more times.

In the end, I look Bryson dead in the eyes using what I can only describe as a defeated, cold glare.

“I want it in writing.”

Chapter: 2

[leapingtitan]

R∃/MEMBER (Individual Song Thoughts) - SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 3rd Album

I made a review on the 2nd album, 2V-ALK a while ago so here is the next installment. This is mostly for the Sawano Discord server but I’m posting it here for convenience and safekeeping purposes.

01. Glory -into the RM- (violin: SUGIZO from X Japan; vocal: Yosh)

I really love the instrumental parts of this track. It works well as an introduction piece and is up there with ~prologue~ for me. The vocal parts with Yosh are a bit weak and turn the track from a badass instrumental piece to a stadium football game chant. The track can do without it. However, there is that one section after the chorus where Yosh whispers like he’s singing in a 2000′s alternative rock band and the vocals do this cool panning effect. SUGIZO from X Japan is on the violin and his parts are really good and have a lot of synergy with the sampled bagpipes and piano. The guitar chugs are also pretty cool and remind me of TBFworld a bit. Overall, it’s a good track despite the vocal section being a bit unnecessary. Speaking of, them lyrics. “Honor of dying alone”? Was this made for Thunderbolt Fantasy or something?

02. EVERCHiLD (vocal: Akihito Okano from PornoGraffiti)

I admit the track has grown on me a bit and I definitely like it more than I did when the first preview video of it showed up. Still, as I’ve stated many times, I don’t really like happy and bright songs too much and prefer something with a stronger emotional impact. Still, the track is nice and again I’m glad Sawano did something different with the drums for once rather than layering electronic beats over an acoustic kit. My biggest problem with the track is the last chorus and the outro. “Tiny world is so stuffed all day, but nothing’s gonna change my story” is sung 6 times back to back and gets repetitive after the 2nd one. Should have just kept it as an instrumental. Other than that, I’m not the biggest fan of Akihito Okano’s voice. I like him more in the first Bnha OP for instance.

03. never gonna change (vocal: SukimaSwitch)

One of the tracks I’ve been most hyped for since the preview has dropped and boy does it not disappoint. I love the guitar and the drums and SukimaSwitch’s voice is really nice. It honestly reminds me some of the pop-ish music I used to listen when I was younger. The “2nd chorus” in the original PV was actually the bridge, to my surprise. The 2nd verse, which is new here, is really good. Love the guitar that comes in after the first few measures. Overall, the track is great.

Lastly, that instrumental outro section with the piano and guitar was completely unexpected but it’s amazing. It sounds like it would be a track rearrangement if never gonna change was an OST piece. Really good and honestly adds a whole new dimension at the end of an otherwise great track. My favorite so far.

04. narrative (vocal: LiSA)

Now we get to some of the tracks which have already been heard before in other releases. I’d be repeating myself if I go in detail like with the other tracks so the tl;dr version would be that I don’t think LiSA’s voice fits this type of Sawano music at all. Not that it’s a surprise considering the track wasn’t even composed with her vocals in mind. The instrumental is, for all it’s worth, actually not that bad. I don’t really mind the strings, or “casio pad strings” as dante calls them and it makes the song at least a bit more interesting.

05. i-mage (vocal: Aimer)

It’s been a long time since an Aimer and Sawano collab and unfortunately I don’t think the wait was that worth it. For the record, I really love Aimer’s voice but the song composition itself is what I dislike. Similarly to EVERCHiLD, the song just doesn’t have enough emotional impact, at least for me. I can see the appeal of it otherwise but personally it doesn’t do much on my end. The intro and verse are alright but the chorus is where it gets too playful for me to take it seriously and I found myself spacing out and losing focus on the actual track which hasn’t happened with the other songs so far. The 2nd verse has some cool bass going on but it sounds really noisy in the mix for some reason. Lastly, again, same problem with EVERCHiLD where the standout English portion of the lyrics, in this case “Light and dreams that children hold tight, now you have them in your right hand” repeats way too much in the last chorus and outro portions. Same formula.

Despite all of these complaints I think if I listen to the track enough it might grow on me. Might. But other than that, a bit underwhelming and personally my least favorite Sawano and Aimer collaboration for now.

06. NOISEofRAIN (vocal: swan with nishi Takanori Nishikawa from TM Revolution)

I’m gonna be honest here, it’s really hard for me to talk about this song without any irony and memes to go with it. This song just slaps. That’s it. I listen to it on an almost daily basis and have been doing so since it came out at the end of November. Can’t really say much other than it’s my favorite [nZk] song and Takanori Nishikawa is the OG.

One thing I have to point out though is that the mix in this album’s version is slightly different than the one in the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single, specifically the start of the first verse where there’s two synths that are either made really quiet or missing. Yeah, I’ve listened to this track way too much in order to notice the smallest things like that..

OUTRAGERS DRIVE ME NUTS

07. Binary Star (vocal: Uru)

This is the one older [nZk] song I can’t put my feelings into words for. I really like Uru’s voice and I hope Sawano collaborates with her again in the future, but the song itself is just... strange. Specifically the instrumental. It’s just really weird, having the strings and piano portion at first and then adding drums later on. I just don’t know what to think. I definitely don’t dislike it and I do enjoy it but that’s it. I actually really need to listen to it more often... 

You know what, Binary Star is really nice.

08. ME & CREED <nZkv> (vocal: Sayuri)

Okay... so... uhm. I guess this is it. This is the track. I’ve made fun of this song a lot back when we only had PVs to go on. I called it a lot of things and overall shared the server’s opinion that it’s not that great. But you know what? I listened to it once today, in the full album. Just once, didn’t really need to listen anymore to open my eyes.

By the way, little fun fact: It’s actually spelled Me & Creed in the original Blue Exorcist OST, or I guess if you want the full name.. “Exorcist Concerto First Movement”... something like that, don’t !songtitle me... but yeah I’m just delaying the inevitable here.

So, I have finally been able to have a fresh, reformed opinion on ME & CREED <nZkv> and express my true feelings. Because, well, the truth is...

...

It still fucking sucks.

Honestly... just.. why? First of all, out of all of the “High Pitched Jpop Vocalists That Do Not Match Sawano’s Composition Style” category members, Sayuri is by far the worst. And, you know, that might just be be for not preferring this kind of voice that a lot of Japanese singers, but I’ve listened to some of Sayuri’s own stuff and it’s not bad because the SONG ACTUALLY FITS HER VOICE.

Now, despite all of this the verse is alright. The chorus is where the harmonies really get out of hand and only make the already bad vocals worse. And it wouldn’t have been as jarring if the instrumental was decent but it’s not. Me & Creed is not at all the type of song that would benefit from overly punchy kick drums and toms and it loses its entire flavor just with the drums alone. It sounds like a below-average pre-rec demo of the original track and doesn’t even respect what kind of song the original is.

Also, this is made for a mobile game. I don’t know about you but if this was in a game as its main theme that would not give me a good impression.

Fun fact, this is the only track on the entire album that is under 4 minutes long. I guess you can say it came short in multiple departments. I give it an Aldnoah Zero out of 10.

09. Unti-L (vocal: ASCA)

After the traumatizing experience that is the previous track, I come to something that is actually good. Unti-L and never gonna change are my favorite new tracks from this album. I’ve been looking forward to this one since the first 5 second PV and I’ve been listening to the short version a lot for the past week. The song is incredible. 6/8 time signature, ballad-y sound, strings and good sound design in general makes for a solid and near flawless track. ASCA’s voice is very enjoyable and I find that it works well with the song since it was probably made with her vocals in mind unlike narrative and... the other thing.

I can’t really say much else, really. Great intro, verse, vocals, melody and overall sound. The instrumental break/bridge is also very pleasant with the simple guitar. Probably the most emotionally impacting track on the album and I love it.

10. Cage (vocal: Tielle)

The original Cage is interesting but I have to say I find it inferior to the <NTv> version from the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single. I’m not the biggest fan of the synth in the intro and the electronic drums don’t quite do it for me in terms of the overall sound. The <NTv> version is still superior in every way and has fits more with the melody and Tielle’s voice. Overall though, the composition is great but you can’t really look at the instrumental alone in both cases since Tielle’s voice makes the track what it is.

11. REMEMBER (vocal: mizuki, Gemie, Tielle, naNami, Yosh)

Should have just credited it as [nZchoir]. 

On a serious note, this sounds like something you would hear in a Disney Channel movie, especially the chorus. The track is surprisingly pleasant to listen to and I find it really catchy and easy to jam and sing along to. Also like the parts where there’s just one vocalist singing and the choir effect in the chorus is really nice as well. Again.. Disney movie.

I actually want to say more about this track but I definitely need to listen to it a bit more to make other comments. Other than that, it’s nice.

Conclusion

As a whole, this seems like a much more fresh album than 2V-ALK. It still doesn’t compare to the diversity and variety in o1 or how solid UnChild is, but I still think it’s at least on par with 2V-ALK despite not having all that many songs. Still, the new original tracks here (well, almost all of them) are interesting and despite my comments on some of them I do think they do their thing and make the album.. work, I guess. I definitely have some tracks I want to go back and relisten to a few of them though, which is a good sign.

I don’t have individual ratings for the tracks but in terms of ranking, a few hours after my first impressions and a few listens I would order them in the following fashion. The best is at the top and the worst is at the bottom.

NOISEofRAIN

never gonna change

Unti-L

Glory -into the RM-

Binary Star

REMEMBER

EVERCHiLD

i-mage

Cage

narrative

you know what goes here.

And that would be it. Thanks for reading!

[velveteenau-blog1]

Mixing Pop Vocals

Reading Time 6-7 Minutes

I - Love - Mixing. Even when working on the production end of a track, my brain tends to make decisions with the mix already in mind. Often, the biggest challenge in the mix stage is getting the vocals to sit in the right place within the music. The sweet spot tends to be crisp sounding but not too thin. Leaving an abundance of lows/mids can create mud but removing too much can make things sound brittle and harsh. For me, it’s all about finding the perfect balance between the highs and lows for each unique vocalist to get the perfect end result. Over the years I’ve tweaked my process a million different ways, and it continues to evolve. The plugins I use specifically will certainly change from time to time but they always serve a similar purpose.

I should mention I always start by mixing the instrumental layers first, and work the vocals into that. As you read on, you will see that I prefer to work in moderate steps using multiple inserts on the same track. I find subtle nipping and tucking along the way leads to a present and rich vocal without sounding over compressed or EQ’d. I like to think of it as a “correct, enhance, correct, enhance” process - but it’s never set in stone!

Step 1 - General Clean Up

I always start by touching up the most obvious issues with multiband compression, this ensures they aren’t further exaggerated as we compress the vocal down the line. Recently I’ve been loving the Waves ‘F6 Floating Band Dynamic EQ’ for this. It’s got a real time spectral analyzer which helps locate trouble spots and can be very surgical if needed. I prefer multiband compression rather than EQ to start as it only reduces the desired frequencies when they cross the threshold set, thus not affecting the vocal everywhere at all times.

Every voice is different but there tends to be three spots I look at first. I’ll sweep through these bands with a sharp Q to find the exact area in need of correction. 150-300hz (this is where chest boom/mud usually swells up), 600hz-1k (controlling mid-range honk can really make a vocal sound more pleasant to the ears especially when the singer belts) and 2.5-7khz (harsh edge and sibilance usually live here). I’ll also roll off around 80hz and below seeing as there is no information we want down there anyways. The width of the Q and amount of reduction will change in every scenario. Trust your ears and compress until things no longer pop out.

Step 2 - Introduce Compression

At this point I’m just looking for transparent, medium speed, soft knee compression to get the party started. I really like Waves ‘Rvox’ for this - it’s quick, easy and affective. I’m usually looking for about 4-6 DB of gain reduction at peak moments to level out the performance without adding any character. Think of it as rounding out the edges and beginning to control dynamics.

Step 3 - Surgical EQ

Now that we’ve done a little tonal clean up and started to fatten the voice up, further subtractive EQ is usually done next. I tend to focus back in on the low mids, carving out trouble spots with a super tight ‘Q’ that are still sticking out to much. I’m looking for precision, not character so the stock Avid ‘EQ III’ works great. Sometimes to get a nice, crisp vocal, the best move is to remove the thicker low/mids to make the whole package feel brighter and more present, before reaching to boost the highs. This also frees up sonic space for for the vocals to sit around the bass, synths, drums and other competing frequencies. Depending on the sonics of the over all song, I may also boost 16 khz and above to add a little “air” if the track calls for it.

Step 4 - Compression Part 2

At this stage in the game my goal is to further compress without affecting the transients. I’m still not looking to add any character and slow attack is key. Some of my mixer friends may think I’m crazy for this but my next go-to is Waves ‘Renaissance Axx’. Touted as a guitar compressor, I love it on vocals. Setting the attack as slow as possible, I can further reduce things another 3-6 DB on peaks with almost no audible compression. What really makes this plugin great is that the auto make up gain brings out the quieter moments nicely.

Step 5 - Final Correction

The first 4 steps have lead to a clean, present, compressed vocal without sounding squashed and lifeless. Dynamic yet controlled. This final corrective step will vary with the sonic character of the voice. Depending on the singers timbre you may find it’s a little on the sibilant side (sharp “s” and “t” sounds etc) or it may still feel a little to thick in the low mids. Regardless of the problem I usually reach for Wave ‘C4 multiband compressor’. It works great as a broad stroke tool when de-essing or further controlling low mids.

I should add I rely heavily on volume automation to correct the worst offenders of sibilance. Subtle fader moves can easily fix most of the stand out problems and that way you avoid shaving off to much top end with something like the ‘C4’ or any de-esser for that matter.

Step 6 - Let’s Get Tasty - Compression 3.0

This is when I like to reach for a compressor that will add some warmth and flavour to the mix. My current favourite for this is the UA 1176. World renowned for its tonal characteristics it’s been my favourite addition to my vocal chain as of late. Usually, but not always, with a medium attack and slightly quicker release. Since our peaks have been rounded out and controlled in the first 2 steps of compression, I usually look for about 3 DB of average reduction here. The pre-levelled signal can handle a bit more of this coloured compression seeing as it isn’t peaking nearly as much as a raw vocal would. This allows for a more steady compression sound and the character this compressor brings!

Step 7 - Final Touch - Special EQ

If the compressor was adding salt to the pallet, here’s comes the pepper. I like to treat this last step as broad stroke enhancements. Usually focused on adding that last little bit of top end air and presence. Lately I’ve been loving the UA Pultec EQ for this. Using a nice broad Q, voice depending, I’ll boost the 10, 12 or 16 kHz bands to taste.

Step 8 - Everybody on the (sub) Bus!

For me, the last, but very important step is the bus treatment. I always group my vocals based on parts or sections through their own sub bus. Lead vocals and select harmonies/doubles. BGs grouped by parts, “oohs and ahhhs”, counter melodies, vocal vamps etc. I usually end up with 4/5 sub-groups of vocals being sent to their own aux.

On those busses I look for bus compression to glue together all the vocal layers and affects (reverbs, delays etc. which i didn’t dive into in this post). The UA Neve 33609 was a game changer in this regard. It is nothing short of amazing at doing just that.

Following the compressor I like a channel strip like the SSL 4KE. It’s modelled from input to fader so it adds that certain “je ne sais quois” even if I’m not using the EQ or compressor. That said as the mix grows and evolves, I lean on this strip for further adjustments as required.

The Takeaway

There is absolutely no right or wrong way to go about mixing. The gift and curse of this part of the gig is that it is usually completely subjective, especially in the process one uses. Even as I write this, I’m contemplating new plugins to add to my mix chain. It never ends! Have fun, try new things, trust your ears and come up with as many efficiencies as you can to allow yourself to focus on being creative. Happy mixing!

Links to Equipment and Software Used

Waves F6 Dynamic EQ

Waves Renaissance Vox

Avid EQ III

Waves Renaissance Axx

Waves C4 Multiband Compressor

UAD 1176

UAD Pultec EQ

UAD Neve 33609

UAD SSL 4KE Strip

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brandon Unis is part owner of Cylinder Sound & Film in Toronto and co-producer in the duo Towers. He works as a mixer, engineer, producer and songwriter and has one co-write certified gold in Canada.

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[sinceileftyoublog]

Ghost Liotta Interview: Soft Synths, Hard Decisions

BY JORDAN MAINZER

It takes quite the level of trust for musicians to hand over their art to someone and give them free reign, usually the type of relationship a band might have with a longtime producer. For Ghost Liotta, it happened with first-time collaborators. Using vintage modular synths, live drums, and steel guitar, the trio of drummer James McAlister (The National, Sufjan Stevens), multi-instrumentalist Christopher Wray (Butch Walker), and multi-instrumentalist Zac Rae (Death Cab for Cutie), recorded material at Rae’s studio a few years back after each person was finished with a tour. Before finishing the material, a fire permanently closed Rae’s studio. A few years later, rediscovered, instead of looking back themselves, the band handed the hard drives over to producer John Spiker (Tenacious D) to see what he could come up with. The results weren’t what the band could have imagined at any point in the creation of the songs; yet, they were perfect. From dark, industrial, beat-centric tracks (“when we sleep”, “nonlinear b”) to ambient atmospheric drones (“back to dust”, “life cycle”), their self-titled debut album, released in August, flows seamlessly, never trying too hard, yet always surprising you.

A few months ago, I spoke to the band over Skype from their respective homes and studios in California. (They’d been able to see each other during the pandemic for a photo shoot but were otherwise busy doing sessions for other projects, so the interview was as much of a catchup session for them as it was an introduction to myself.) Read on as they talk about how they made the record, its aesthetic, whether they’ll follow the same creative process in the future, and how in the hell they came up with the band name.

Since I Left You: Why did you decide to make this record self-titled?

Zac Rae: It was a long discussion about the titling of this record and the names of the songs. Everything at one point was untitled because they existed as numbers on a hard drive, like “Untitled No. 6″ and “Untitled No. 9.” We initially kept that as an artistic choice--it wasn’t linear. It was like, “3, 2, 7, 9″ in the sequence we’d come up with. We realized it would be confusing for the whole world, so we titled everything but left the album title as the project.

Christopher Wray: The way we made the album, Zac, myself, and James were in Zac’s studio. We basically told the engineer to hit record and we’d start making music. Those jams would sometimes go for 20 minutes and sometimes an hour and 20 minutes. We’d pretty much stop at some point and go into the control room and drop markers on ideas we thought were cool. After doing that for three days, the whole saga of the studio burning and the hard drives, we gave the files to Spiker as a form of torture and he just started sending back these amazing arrangements. We just couldn’t believe it. We had all the raw material Spiker coalesced into an album.

SILY: The album definitely has a cohesiveness to it you don’t often get with raw improvisation.

ZR: That was a choice. There were times where we debated whether to leave something as a rolling, 10-minute amorphous thing or put it into a form that somebody listening cold can hear the development of the idea. We chose to make it a little more focused.

SILY: With the sequencing of the tracks, did you want to present them as mini suites? Or were you trying to change things up from track to track?

James McAlister: I don’t know that there was a super conscious thing, that we were making a record and had to have 10 songs that were three minutes long each. The way the songs were created was super unstructured. We let those dictate what each thing was. It wasn’t some endgame where we had to make a certain number of songs out of the material. What’s on the record is the best of what we pulled from those sessions, so there wasn’t forethought on the form of anything. That was the fun of it: Taking those moments and letting them be.

CW: That’s very much the spirit of the album too. James, I don’t know if you remember this, but going way back, I guess 6-7 years ago, the impetus for me reaching out to Zac before Zac and I had ever met was a project like this, if not this project. Zac’s been in the scene for a long time, and we have a lot of mutual friends and worked with the same people. I love what he does in the studio. I remember asking James since you were buds before, “Can you introduce me to Zac Rae? I want to do something that’s just for us, not for a particular artist or project.” We got breakfast at Kitchen 24 in Hollywood, and that was the early bird of this project.

JM: The way it came together is one decision leading to another, which is my favorite way to make everything. We even talked about having vocalists to collaborate, and the more we got down the road, we just liked what it was. We didn’t know what to call it, and that’s a good sign: When you make something you like and you’re happy at the end of it. I feel like I was constantly surprised by how great every decision came out, like, “Oh, wow, this is better than I thought, even.” All four of us make a lot of music, so it’s refreshing to be pleasantly surprised by something you do. We can go into work mode, get it done and get it right, but this felt more special than your average thing.

SILY: Would you say the record has a distinct mood?

JM: I think that’s what its strongest trait is.

ZR: When we were putting together the final sequencing and edits, we were all in a space thinking whether you could put it on with headphones and listen to it all the way through, or by yourself or in your car or biking in the wilderness or in an airplane. It sustains the space really well for the length of the record. We thought consciously about that and made some final decisions based on, “This piece doesn’t really fit in this flow,” and making one body.

SILY: When I first read that the album would have so many different types of synths, live drums, and steel guitar, I expected to be able to hear those instruments more. “I Am Thoughts” was a track where I could consciously hear drums, but otherwise, it was a pretty consistent aesthetic.

CW: The most conscious aspect of that was having the room in the recordings itself; in a genre that’s more traditionally direct, we wanted to be able to hear the room, hear amps. To me, I think that’s what gives the album its depth and uniqueness. Hearing chairs squeak. I can’t remember the name of the track, but one of the first ones we kind of organized into a vibe, the Overstayer on it was interacting with a really weird way where the reverb coming out of my amp was in another room. The overhead mics from the drum kit were catching the reverbs of my amp that were in another room which was creating this weird vibe. Very room-centric.

ZR: Things like James hitting the pad, generating an electronic sound, but you’re hearing the sound of the stick on the rudder, so it’s thudding and being sort of distorted, not like an electronic snare or a drum but somewhere between the two. I’m really proud of how that landed in the vinyl version.

JM: There’s nothing worse than, “Here’s an electronic beat we’re gonna record a drum kit over!” If I hear that one more time I’m gonna hang it up. [laughs] We got into this weird sort of in between space that’s hard to do based on the situation we have.

SILY: What’s the story behind the band name?

CW: I was on a session for another artist, and we were on break, and I was on a couch and two different conversations were happening at one time, and in one conversation, somebody said “ghost” and in the other conversation somebody said “liotta” and all my brain heard was that phrase. I thought, “That sounds like our band.”

SILY: I assume somebody was talking about Ray Liotta?

CW: I’m not sure. I don’t know how else that word gets thrown out.

JM: This whole thing is a sublet nod to Ray Liotta. I’m still hoping we can get successful enough that he can be in a video for us.

ZR: Ray Liotta as a ghost in space.

CW: In between his Chantix commercials. [laughs]

JM: We could figure out some kind of narrative where this is actually Ray Liotta’s band. All instruments by Ray Liotta. If you’re curious, confirmed: Ray Liotta did all of this.

SILY: Why are all the titles lowercase?

CW: Thank you! They are. On Spotify, when I uploaded tracks, it [wasn’t working.] When I emailed them, because I’ve seen other artists do that, I tried to get some sort of permission to do all lowercase. But I can’t figure out for the life of me how to do that on the streaming platforms, and I was sent a “No.”

I don’t know if it’s a visual thing, but artistically, it’s what felt right to all of us.

JM: I was pushing for everything being untitled, so I had to settle for lowercase letters.

SILY: What’s the story behind the album art?

CW: We were looking at different artists and options, and an artist in Southern California...we saw this beautiful painting that he did, it looked like the world our album lived in. We reached out, he was super cool and said, “Go for it.”

SILY: What else is next for you?

ZR: We’re excited about making this music. It’s been three years since we created this. We’re excited about repeating this process and seeing what new influences we’re bringing to the table. I think later this year we’ll do that.

SILY: Do you think you’ll follow the same process, where Christopher, James, and Zac will make and give it to John to arrange?

John Spiker: I think that remains to be seen. In one sense, there was something beautiful that I knew nothing when I stepped into this stuff. When I first heard the music, I had no memories of the session or what I was searching for. It was this void where I could needle drop around it and let fate lead the way. It was a positive for my workflow. I don’t think it was the key to why it worked, but it was interesting and a first for me. This fresh exciting thing for me to jump into and discover moments in a different way rather than sitting into the control room listening to the guys playing. I think if I had that in my mind, I might want to think of it more structured of the way it was created. Since I didn’t have that, it was, “It could be anything.”

CW: If you’re okay with it, Spiker, it would be cool to recreate that and keep you in the dark! I would be stoked if we sent you an hour of music and nothing we recorded made the cut.

JS: This is like working backwards. This is usually year 10, album 5 for a band where it’s like, “No, you don’t need to come. Don’t come, actually, we’d rather you not be there.”

CW: The one thing I want to make sure we do even if the concept changes is being in the same room while we’re making it. James and Zac are not interested in making music in a silo. We all do that on other things. The magic that happens is being in the room vibing off of each other and making decisions. We didn’t use a single soft synth on the album. It’s all hardware. Because of that, we’re making decisions that are internal. You can’t go in and change a preset and dial something back. I like the permanence of making those decisions together in the moment.

SILY: Was that experience on the flipside for the three of you also unique where you made it and sent it off and had no idea how it would come back?

CW: Yeah, and it was due to complete trust. Spiker has been one of my best buds for a long time. I met him before I moved to L.A. He was the only person in the world I would have trusted to send all this stuff and say, “Do what you want with this.” We just said, “Do your thing.” If we had given it to anybody else, I don’t know if the passion would have been there. Anybody else would have required some direction or some kind of an idea of what they should be doing. Spiker just dove in and made shit happen.

ZR: Other projects in my life I have such a high degree of control over. It’s my band, I’m mixing it and controlling it and have control over every stage of the process. It’s so gratifying for Spiker to come in and handle that side of it and to be surprised almost like somebody was doing a remix of your record. It was really lovely for me to have that weight removed.

[rodger-that-studios]

The (Actual) Final Countdown Part 2

My Top 20 Albums - Part 2

The ten following albums are sheer musical perfection, and in no order, I’m going to recommend that you check them out.

Did I say recommend?

I meant damn near demand.

It’s live. Lets go.

10 – Reggatta De Blanc – The Police – 1979

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPwMdZOlPo8

Take a bow, Stewart Copeland

The Police were, simply, a revolutionary band.

We’re not going to talk about Sting on his own, though.

Why were they revolutionary? That’s easy. They combined so many elements when making music it was as if Dr Frankenstein signed a record deal. Reggae? Check. Rock? Check. You want falsetto? Opera? yeah, it’s in there. RDB was definitely their magnum opus, the Michelangelo’s David of their remarkable discography.

There are so many remarkable tunes here. Let’s have a crash course, shall we?

Message in a Bottle is an incredible song. It’s almost transformative, as if it starts as one genre, a rock and roll record, and then becomes something else. Once Mr Copeland starts to flex his muscles on the kit it changes and becomes a Reggae-licious affair. It’s unlike anything else I’ve ever heard, and it floors me every single time. Also offered here is some truly genius lyricism. Sting remarks that it “Seems I’m not alone in being alone”. How melancholy and unique is that? It’ll make your head spin, but god is it worth it.

The other knockout tune here is Walking on The Moon. Safe to say the lyrics are simple. Giant steps are indeed what you must take when you walk on the moon. Not all the lyrics are as profound as Message in a Bottle, but for me, with this song, it’s all about the drums. I fell in love with all things Stewart Copeland when I first heard this. Stewart is in his own little bubble here, and he knocks me for six every single time, especially the fill he cheekily adds before the final chorus. That is nothing short of magical. It’s a stunning performance, much like this is a stunning album.

9 – Greatest Hits of The Cure – The Cure – 2001

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3nPiBai66M

warm fuzzy feeling

The Cure are one of those mythical groups that have very few bad songs. I know the musical puritans among you will slate me for including a compilation album rather than the original works (it’s not the SAME, WILL), but this is just a silly list, after all, it’s really not worth you getting so worked up over.

As far as the album is concerned it features most of the usual suspects, but a few songs stand out to me, even at 20 years old. My mother first showed me our first standout, Just Like Heaven when I was no older than ten. It was captivating to me that someone could pour so much happiness into three and a half minutes. Originally the song came during that transformative phase of the band’s career when they went from their gothic ‘I hate everybody’ origins to ‘Friday I’m In Love’.

Wow

Yeah

Quite a change.

But Just Like Heaven is an ode to falling in love for the first time. It’s quite a beautiful thing to behold really. Also, my mum and I still sing it together and I’m almost 21. That still makes me smile.

Boys Don’t Cry is one of those songs that you’ll find yourself singing even if you have no idea what Robert Smith is talking about.

Boys Do Cry.

Honestly it’s gorgeous. It’s honest and emotional, which is where the best songs come from. That about sums up this album actually. It has a profound sense of emotion and a lust for life. Not one to miss.

8 – The Colour And The Shape – Foo Fighters – 1997

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y

This one will blow your socks off

If you’ve had the pleasure of reading my piece about my recent, ahem, experiences at the 2019 Reading Festival, then you’ll know how I feel about the Foo Fighters. They are one of the greatest, if not the pinnacle rock band of the last 20 years, and if you’re hoping to get into them, this album is the perfect diving board.

Following the death of Kurt Cobain in ’94, Dave Grohl, the guy in the Foos who looks an awful lot like the drummer from Nirvana, channeling his inner mad scientist, started a new project. The result was The Foo Fighters.

So logically a mere 3 years later they dropped this seminal, uncomfortably incredible record.

Every song on the tracklist is a home run, but there is something truly transcendent about a little ditty called Everlong. It’s a four-minute voyage into unrequited love and not wanting things to ever change, wanting things to stay the same. That’s the perfect description for the track because once you’ve listened to it, you never want to un-hear it. It’s remarkably simple, just Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins and the rest of the band making love to your eardrums with hypersonic mastery.

Side note – maybe I’m babbling because of how much I freaking love this song, or maybe it’s just that good. I guess you’ll have to listen to find out.

I’m having to restrain myself from gushing about every single song on this thing. Its one of those records that will never leave your memory once you’ve listened to it a few times. The Foos are an amazing collective of awesome haircuts, amazing instrumental technicality, and genius lyrics.

If I had to choose one other song to personally recommend (and it can’t be all of them) then I’d have to go for Monkey Wrench. It’s one of the most energetic rock songs you’ll ever hear. It’s angry, but that anger is harnessed by Dave and the boys and transformed it into a ridiculously cool song and indeed album. Kick. Ass.

7 – Black Holes and Revelations – Muse – 2006

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZIk5wIq2Qw

It’s about the song people, not the film

Oh Hell Yes.

Muse, but more specifically their jack of all trades irritatingly talented frontman Matt Bellamy have always had fans. They’re a fabulous band after all, but when this album came out in the summer of 2006 Muse went from strength to strength, and it’s not hard to see why this album is held in such high esteem by die-hard Muse fans the world over.

This is Muse at their most theatrical and most powerful. The lyrics are profound, the guitars are loud and the vocals are up in the stratosphere. Its a rock opera, an odyssey of epic proportions. Also the first standout, Supermassive Black Hole gained new notoriety when it was used for that scene in Twilight where the vampires play baseball (you know the one. don’t lie).

But there are other songs here that will leave you stunned. Let’s take Map of the Problematique for example. Its a brilliant bloody song, with Dominic Howard beating the shit out of the drums to create an almost trance-like listening experience, complete with soaring harmonies from Bellamy to boot. Its so cool. Bottom line.

And before we move on there’s the tiny little tiny matter of Starlight, which is one of the best songs the band has ever written, and my personal favourite of the album. It’s soaring. A song for the ages about wanting to be with that one person that means more to you than you could ever put into words. You need to experience it, but we’ve all felt those feelings. That’s why it works.

6 – Sweet Baby James – James Taylor – 1970

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOIo4lEpsPY

‘Who’s cutting onions in here?

Way back at the start of our list I warned that Mr Taylor may be making a cheeky appearance, and look who’s rocked up. I’m a man of my word.

This album is a family favourite, and one of the first albums that Mum and I ever listened to together. She used to sing me, Sweet Baby James, before I went to sleep every night, and I still get that same warm fuzzy feeling every time I listen to it. I’d never heard such a beautiful song before but I knew what that meant after the first time I heard some of the songs on this album. Taylor was an incredible songwriter and truly one of the greatest talents of his generation.

That talent is reinforced with our next song, Fire and Rain (tears, already). The song is melancholy and painful to listen to. But its not pain in a bad way its as if its a necessary pain to go trough because you know things will get better soon. Thats what I think Taylor was going for. The song has a certain distance to it, almost. The lyrics are desperately sad, but the instrumentation and interpretation that Taylor places round them is sonorous and achingly beautiful to listen to. The song is like an old friend after you’ve listened to it a few times. It simply will never let you down. Thats the perfect description for Taylor’s 1970 magnum opus. It will always be with you.

And side note – who knows if the ever speculated relationship between James Taylor and Carole King was real, or if it ever materialised. Frankly that doesn’t matter. If it was true that they wrote this album together, then that will only make your love for the record increase. Two people came together and made a fabulous and timeless piece of artwork. Well done them I say.

5 – Escapology – Robbie Williams – 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHdvQmA2Ws8

Damn this is some funky shit

This was another album I couldn’t get enough of growing up.

Take That split up back in 1996, and Robbie Had been going it alone (and doing rather well for himself) for a good few years when this gem came out in 2002. The main reason Escapology is so resonant with me and still so relatable even in my 20 year old head is because of two things;

The honesty and realism of Williams’ lyrics

The unstoppable partnership between Williams and the albums super producer, Guy Chambers.

Escapology was a new direction for Williams. It was completely different from Life Thru A Lens (1997) I’ve Been Expecting You (1998) and Swing When You’re Winning (2000). Now don’t get me wrong. All three of those albums were great too, but this one would go down as being historically different.

The cream of the crop here, in my ever-humble opinion, is a tie between Something Beautiful and Feel. The former is a cheerful, life-affirming ode to happiness and prosperity, while the latter is a brutally honest and beautifully written song about wanting to find happiness. Maybe there’s a theme that connects the two, but they’re different in almost every other way, and both iconic because of it.

But that’s not where the magic ends with this album. Later on, in the stellar tracklist you’ll find Hot Fudge. This is one of the funkiest songs Robbie and Chambers ever wrote, and one listen to the thing will prove to you why. Its three minutes of killer keyboards, awesome vibes and that trademark Robbie Williams tongue-in-cheek.

Basically, this album is awesome. Get the message? Check it out.

4 – American Idiot – Green Day – 2004I don’t even have to explain this one. I wrote a piece about why this album was ahead of its time.

You can find that here. This one is special, but unbelievably it’s only in fourth. So lets press on.

https://wordpress.com/view/thefriendlycritic.org

Oh my god

OH MY GODDDDD

We’ve reached PODIUM POSITIONS PEOPLE

Look alive sunshine

I’m EXCITED!

Okay okay home stretch lets do this.

3 – Hotel California – Eagles – 1976

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tcXblWojdM

AIR GUITAR

I’ve always been in complete awe of The Eagles. They’re a bunch of freaking rockstars. Living legends. And boy do they know it.

This is the album that gave them that status.

Its a masterpiece. An absolute fucking masterpiece. I’ll try and explain why without squealing with glee.

The title track is the musical equivalent of willingly losing your mind. It’s a drug trip made of sound waves. It’s remarkable and will change the way you think about music. Probably forever. It almost goes beyond how the song actually sounds with this one, although HC does also happen to feature the single greatest guitar solo I’ve ever heard. Glen Fry, take a bow up there you beautiful man. We all miss you.

The lyrics warn you that you ‘can check out any time you like, but you can never leave’.

But let me ask you

If being held hostage by narcotics in blissful ignorance of your situation (somewhere in the desert) sounds this good, why the hell would you ever want to leave?

This song is that good. And its only track ONE.

This album is one of those mythical records that will surprise you more and more every time you listen to it. We continue with New Kid in Town and later Life In The Fast Lane. These are two equally beautiful, but vastly different songs. New Kid is quite melancholy when you first listen to it, but it grows on you. It makes sense really considering the song is about wanting to be accepted. Fry, Henley and the rest of the band really flex their instrumental muscles here, and the result is glorious.

Fast Lane is a different beast, though.

It’s my personal favourite on the album, and it features Glenn Fry at his most untouchable. A guitar hero if ever there was one. This song rocks, this song rolls and this song does basically everything in between. Its a song you can listen to in any mood and you’ll instantly feel better because of it. The harmonies here are phenomenal too.

Just like the rest of the album. Incredible.

2 – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles – 1967

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naoknj1ebqI

Uh, no clues for what they wrote this one about.

The silver medal goes to the fab four.

Everything these four incredible people achieved together, every album they released, every record they broke (that’s destroyed) simply added to their mythos.

The Beatles aren’t a band anymore, people, they’re practically a religion.

If you had the unenviable task of choosing a magnum opus album-wise, then Sgt Pepper makes a fabulous case for itself. It’s my personal favourite, but of course my opinion should play no part in how you choose to discover this band. They were the greatest pop group and the greatest songwriters of the modern age. You all know the stories, believe them. They’re most certainly true.

Sgt Pepper is, to be frank, the Bayeux Tapestry of 20th-century songwriting.

It touches on some incredible subject matter. Some of it is heartbreaking, some of it is exhilarating, all of it is perfection. Where do we even start with this thing? The title track and With a Little Help From My Friends sets the tone and begins to tell a story that spans the entire length of the album. Its a story of overcoming adversity and finding solace in each other, in people you care about. For that to be put so effortlessly into an album is why this one will live forever. It had never been done before, and odds are it will never be done again.

My personal favourite song here though is surprisingly easy for an album that cannot be categorised. That honour goes to A Day in The Life. Up until I discovered the album you’ll see momentarily at number one, this was the greatest song I’d ever heard. Even at 20, the song cracks my top three tunes ever. This is why.

I almost don’t consider this a song. It’s a narrative. A script, if you will. Lennon, McCartney, Starr, and Harrison guide each listener through exceptionally ordinary activities, catching the bus, oversleeping and waking up late for work, watching television.

Therein lies the genius of the piece, because what’s the best way to make a song memorable.

Easy. Make it relevant to everyone all at once.

I feel like the song gives off a profound sense of loneliness as if while you’re listening you’re just drifting, blissfully unaware. But it makes it so strikingly relevant to everything we do collectively in society today. Everyone has these feelings. Everyone knows where The Beatles are coming from.

Truly outstanding songs talk to you. You don’t listen to them as such, they speak to you, and you listen. I think A Day in The Life is the epitome of that. The song will affect each listener differently. But eventually, you’ll realise why it’s so resonant, so incredible. You’ll understand what it means to you, and you alone.

That is what Sgt Pepper as an album facilitates. Each listener will judge it how they see fit, but to me, it is truly almost perfect.

But it isn’t my greatest album of All Time.

This is.

1 – Fleetwood Mac – Rumours – 1977

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqjXn2NflqU

It’s a masterpiece, people.

What do you all know of heartbreak?

Simply, you don’t forget when your heartbreaks.

If you don’t immediately understand the significance of that then odds are you haven’t felt it yet.

Fleetwood Mac were the first band that truly changed my life. Once I understood Rumours it changed my outlook on where the future would take me.

Honestly the first time I listened to it I didn’t understand it. It took a few tries. But one fateful day I started it and everything clicked into place in my head. I was captivated, and sobbing uncontrollably by the end. I knew I wanted a career in music because of this thing.

The album was released in 1977, and it came at a turbulent time in the lives of the members of the band. The married Mick Fleetwood began a torrid and publicised affair with Stevie Nicks, who was married to Lindsey Buckingham. Meanwhile, the other members of the Band John and Christie McVeigh were also on the brink of divorce.

So basically everything was going wrong.

Rumours was the band’s response to the chaos, the eye of the hurricane and the light at the end of the tunnel.

Each song here is more like a thrilling story, and two of the most memorable are Dreams and Go Your Own Way. The incredible thing here is that these two songs are written from the perspectives of Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood respectively.

ABOUT THE SAME ARGUMENT

Dreams is brutal. Nicks’ lyrics tear into an unknown (but known) person who doesn’t want the same things as she does. It’s angry, bitter and painful stuff.

But even with the darkest subject matter, there’s an undeniable beauty to it. The lyric ‘women they will come and they will go’ will undoubtedly tear you to pieces. Its as if Nicks knows she isn’t good enough, but sings through the pain and uncertainty anyway.

The song, and album, almost reminds me of the music played by those brave musicians on the Titanic. They knew the inevitability of the ship going down but played on with courage. This song makes you feel desperately sorry for the circumstances under which it was written, but it will captivate you from start to finish.

But all stories have two sides

Go Your Own Way is the equally spiteful response to the story of Dreams. Fleetwood lays into an unknown (yet known) woman about how he’s feeling. Again the pain telegraphed here will leave you breathless, just as before.

The lyrics here are what makes the song so remarkable. Fleetwood almost begs for forgiveness but doesn’t back down. He tells the recipient that ‘packing up, shacking up’s all you want to do’. That line destroys me because again its a story of how both parties must have known what was coming.

Yet they bravely knew that the show had to go on.

Every song here is much like these two highlights. Just as heartbreaking, just as melancholy and just as stunning. The adjectives I could use to describe this seminal album just go on and on, so I’ll be blunt.

After almost 21 years Rumours is (thus far) the greatest album I’ve ever heard. I hope you find something to love within it too.

So

Deep Breath

Rest those eyes

We made it

It’s been a pleasure, and it’s been a wild ride. I sincerely hope that each person reading this was happy to dive into my head and pick my brain for a few albums.

I may be a professional musician, which means I’m probably biased, but that’s the amazing thing about music. It means different things to different people.

That means each person can react to this list however they want to.

Get listening. It’s been fun

[disappearingground]

Jenny Lewis Starts Over

Rolling Stone March 5, 2019

After saying goodbye to her mother and a 12-year relationship, an indie-rock icon finds a new clarity in art and life

By Jonah Weiner

There are 19 white stickers arranged across Jenny Lewis’ fridge. Each one carries a stamped date, the logo of Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, the word VISITOR and, in Lewis’ handwriting, a different beguiling little phrase: I taught him how to 2-step; Rosey posey put your snake finger on; You are a sunshine in a fruit. “Every day that I visited my mom in the hospital,” Lewis says, “I’d get one of these and write down something she’d say to me. She got more and more psychedelic as we kept upping the meds, and she’d say the most amazing things.” Lewis points at one — Glue me to the ceiling so you never leave — and sighs. “She had liver cancer. From untreated hepatitis C. She was a lifelong heroin addict and also mentally ill and . . . just a really sad situation.”

It’s a drizzly evening in early January, and Lewis is at her home in Los Angeles, drinking gamay wine and discussing things she’s never discussed publicly before. Some listeners over the years may have noticed scattered allusions in her songs to her mother’s troubles and the painful outlines of their relationship. In 2002, on an early album by her first band, Rilo Kiley, she described a mother who was “insane and high.” In 2006, on her debut solo album, Rabbit Fur Coat, she sang, “Where my ma is now, I don’t know/She was living in her car, I was living on the road/And I hear she’s putting that stuff up her nose.” But Lewis has always been careful to let these lyrics speak mostly for themselves. When people ask about them, she’s frequently emphasized that the line between memoir and fiction in her songwriting is a slippery one. “Sometimes I don’t even remember what actually happened,” she says now, “and the song takes on its own life.”

On Lewis’ new record, On the Line, her mother appears again. This time she is in a hospital bed “under a cold white sheet,” and there’s no fiction at work. The earliest sticker on the fridge is dated August 20th, 2017, and by the end of October, at age 70, Linda Lewis was dead.

“We were estranged for 20 years, so this was the first time we’d hung out in two decades,” the 43-year-old singer-songwriter continues. “She was very sick, but I think she held on so we could have time to reconcile, and it created an opportunity for forgiveness. She didn’t have to say, ‘I’m so sorry’ —she said it by saying, ‘You’re a sunshine in a fruit.’ That was her way of saying ‘I love you.’ ”

Lewis started out as a kid actor, appearing on Eighties-era sitcoms like Life With Lucy, opposite Lucille Ball, and in movies like Troop Beverly Hills and The Wizard, opposite Fred Savage. By her twenties she’d all but quit acting and become a burgeoning indie-rock icon instead, known for her clarion voice, her killer ear for melody and her knack for evocative storytelling in a tweaked Americana style. Whereas Lewis’ last musical project, an ad hoc collaboration from 2016 called Nice as Fuck, was stripped down and upbeat, On the Line contains the most lush and melancholy music she’s ever made. The album has a grand rock sound — stately pianos, swelling strings, fuzzy electric guitar. Lewis cut its 11 songs at the venerable Capitol Studios in L.A. over just a few days last year, but she began writing them in this house in 2014, not long before her 12-year relationship with the Scottish-American musician Johnathan Rice deteriorated. She finished writing them after her bedside reconciliation with her mom.

Lewis gives the fridge a final look before turning out of the kitchen. “I wonder how long I’ll leave these up here,” she says.

Addiction, sobriety and self‑medication are running themes throughout On the Line. There are references to red wine, weed, grenadine, heroin, bourbon, Paxil, Marlboros, cognac, Candy Crush and, on the song “Party Clown,” a hallucinogenic Fuji apple. “Somehow I think the worst one of them all is Candy Crush,” Lewis says with a grin. “My mom started taking heroin when I was two or three, probably. So, growing up like that, there’s a realization that nothing is for free, and everything catches up with you — if you try to numb out, eventually you’re gonna have to face whatever it is you’re running away from.” She pauses. “I don’t have any judgment about it. Even with my mom: She did whatever she had to do, and she wasn’t able to kick it. Most people don’t make it out of heroin addiction. I don’t really blame her for it.”

Wine in hand, wearing a satiny cowgirl shirt and a bandanna tied around her neck that’s nearly the same shade of red as her hair, Lewis shows me around the house. Situated near leafy Laurel Canyon, it was built by a Disney animator in the Forties, and his touch is everywhere — delicate, hand-painted flowers on a wall here, trompe l’oeil flagstones on the floor there. In the living room a projector is playing the X-rated 1968 film The Girl on a Motorcycle, which stars Marianne Faithfull and is alternatively titled Naked Under Leather. Lewis has been on a leather kick recently, she says, showing me a photo-heavy 1977 book called Hard Corps: Studies in Leather and Sadomasochism that she recently scored on eBay. “I keep my whips and chains out in the pool house,” she says with a cackle.

Off the living room is the wood-paneled chamber where Lewis rehearses and writes. There’s a drum kit, a Wurlitzer organ and a little gas stove in the corner. Outside, near the pool, there’s a koi pond and a rose garden, all of it put in by the animator. Down the hall, there’s a roller-derby-themed pinball machine from around 1990 that periodically flashes the words WINNERS DON’T DO DRUGS in LED lights. Opposite the pinball is an enormous old promotional cutout for The Wizard, depicting Savage as an adolescent wearing a Nintendo Power Glove and an adolescent Lewis in acid-washed denim overalls. “This was at the movie theater in Van Nuys where I grew up — my mom made me go in and ask for it,” Lewis says. “My sister had it in storage, then had it framed for me and rented a truck to bring it over here. I wasn’t OK with this for many years, because early on in the history of my band, people would yell video-game references at me from the crowd. Now I just can’t believe that this is part of my weird story.”

She says she loved being on Hollywood sets as a kid, for complicated reasons. “I guess I liked being in that environment because it wasn’t home — it was this pretend-family vibe. My dad wasn’t around, so every time I got a job I kind of fell in love with ‘my father’ on set. I would just want that relationship.” (Her real-life dad, a musician named Eddie Gordon, was absent for most of her life, though he came back into Lewis’ orbit shortly before his own death, playing harmonica on her second solo album, 2008’s Acid Tongue.) Lewis’ off-set life in that era was consistently chaotic: “I think my mother was selling coke in the early Eighties,” she says. “She may have been Ricky Nelson’s dealer. And she was using the money I was making and parlaying it into her business. I’d come home from school and there’d be racks of fur coats, Krugerrands, boxes of Vuarnet sunglasses. All these bulk items in the house, drugs cooking on the stove, people coming in and out. Really interesting characters. I remember we had a Honda Civic, and one day it disappeared. Years later, I learned that someone had torched it as a warning to my mom. There was crazy shit going on.”

Lewis says that her elder sister, Leslie, became something like a proxy mother to her in their actual mother’s stead, and when Jenny co-founded Rilo Kiley with some L.A. buddies in the late Nineties, “that was my first chosen family.” Over the years she’d host jam sessions at home, inviting over members of like-minded acts such as Haim, Dawes and Conor Oberst, here and elsewhere in L.A. “I’ve always brought that jam vibe with me wherever I go,” Lewis says. “I feel compelled to play music, to play with people, or I’ll go crazy.”

In 2015, having split up with Rice for reasons we don’t get into, Lewis went to New York, crashing at the empty apartment of her friend Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent. “I couldn’t stay in this house,” Lewis says. “Johnathan and I were basically married. When you’re with someone that long, you share consciousness with them. I didn’t finish any of my stories — Johnathan finished every story for me. So part of the reason I went to New York was to find my inner monologue. I wanted to know what that voice was.”

The result, some three years later, is On the Line. Lewis made it with a particularly impressive surrogate family whose members included not only Beck and Ryan Adams, with whom she’d worked before, but also an older generation of studio pros: Rolling Stones producer Don Was, Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, session drummer Jim Keltner (sideman for John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Steely Dan) and — to her delight and surprise — Ringo Starr. “He was cool — he just showed up one day with a smoothie and did double-drums with Jim on two songs,” Lewis says, adding that she’s not totally sure why the former Beatle came aboard. “I think Don Was showed him some of the songs, invited him to come down, and he was into it.”

[Editors’ note: This story went to press before the February 13th publication of a New York Times report on accusations of sexual misconduct by Ryan Adams. In a February 15th tweet, Lewis made the following statement: “I am deeply troubled by Ryan Adams’ alleged behavior. Although he and I had a working professional relationship, I stand in solidarity with the women who have come forward.”]

A decade-plus into her solo career, Lewis found herself trying new things in the studio. Keeping things spontaneous was a priority: She recorded all her vocal tracks live while playing her instruments, rather than tracking them in later. When Beck inserted a bit of placeholder Auto-Tune on a song called “Little White Dove,” Lewis decided she loved it and kept it in unchanged. (It reminded her of the Detroit rapper DeJ Loaf, whose single “Try Me” Lewis adores.) When it came to mixing, she says she took inspiration from Kanye West’s Ye — clearing out the midrange, focusing on the low end and the highs.

She sits on an oversize armchair in her living room and looks around the house. These days she splits time between L.A. and Nashville, where she jams with a whole other group of friends, including Karen Elson. Three years since her breakup, Lewis says, “I know how to take care of myself. It’s been really lonely, and really hard at times, and to go through the stuff with my mom alone—”

She starts to cry, untying her neckerchief and using it to blot her tears. “This is why I wear a bandanna,” she jokes. “But that’s the thing: I had to visit her, then come home and be alone and process my life with her.”

On the wall in front of her, Marianne Faithfull is making love to Alain Delon, but Lewis isn’t paying attention. “Life is crazy, but it’s incredible,” she goes on. “How amazing to see someone pass over. It’s magical. It’s the most intimate. It’s like a poem, and you don’t know the last line until you get there. But you show up.”

[nigelolsson]

As an Intuitive Drummer, Elton John’s Nigel Olsson Can’t Be Beat

https://lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2012/oct/17/intuitive-drummer-elton-johns-nigel-olsson-cant-be/ 

By John Katsilometes, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 | 6 p.m.

Nigel Olsson has always wanted to be a showman, but onstage he’s not always so showy.

At times, he might even be overlooked.

It’s not easy to lose track of the drummer in a rock band, of course, except when the man at center stage is Elton John, and his instrument -- and show -- is known as “The Million Dollar Piano.”

But Olsson, the self-described quiet one who took up drums early in his career primarily because it was a safe place to hide when fans in English pubs threw bottles at the stage, has a move that’s all his own. He pivots his body from his right to left and crashes the manhole cover-sized cymbal high atop an oversized drum set fashioned after a World War II Royal Air Force Spitfire fighter plane.

Olsson slams that cymbal with a flourish, part orchestra conductor, part lumberjack. It’s a move made by any drummer, but none strike the cymbal with quite the flair of the man who has played drums for Elton John since 1970.

This isn’t to suggest the 63-year-old Olsson has choreographed this act or is one to throw thunderbolts from behind his drum kit.

“You know, I don’t play hard. People think I play hard because of the way my drums are tuned, which is very low,” says Olsson, whose silver suit on this day matches his hair and drum set. “But I’m proud of the emotion I put into the sound. I hardly ever break sticks. They wear out, but they rarely break.

“The way I play, I want to give the emotion that comes from these incredible songs to whoever is listening. Maybe the best way to say it is I am a very descriptive drummer. I play to the piano, and to the lyrics.”

John’s “Million Dollar Piano” is in the midst of its most recent run at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace. The remaining performances in this spree are tonight through Sunday and Oct. 26-28. (In September 2011, John signed a three-year contract to perform a total of 90 shows, but Olsson said he hopes two more years might be added to that agreement; he would buy a condo in Las Vegas if that happens.)

John’s band is mostly comprised of musicians with whom he has performed for decades, but none dates back as far as Olsson.

The two met in 1969, and the first credited performance by Olsson on any John collaboration was the song “Mr. Boyd” by the soon-forgotten band Argosy. The group featured Roger Hodgson (who later founded Supertramp) on vocals and Reginald Dwight -- later to be known as Elton John -- on keyboards.

Asked about that initial project, Olsson laughs and says, “Wow, that sounds right, probably. I’ll have to check my royalty checks.” Olsson also was a member of a short-lived band called Plastic Penny, which was managed by Dick James Music, which also was the publisher of songs written by John and longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin.

“With me being around the office, I got to know all the guys, and Bernie and Elton were there writing songs for other people,” Olsson says. “I got to know them that way.”

In a nomadic path familiar to many rock drummers, Olsson shifted to the better-known Spencer Davis Group. When that band fractured, John recommended Olsson to play with Uriah Heep, a partnership that lasted “nine dates, and, I think, one record,” as Olsson recalls.

But John had more far-reaching plans, as he had just recorded his eponymous first album (using Terry Cox on drums) and was being sent to the United States on a brief but career-changing promotional tour.

John asked Olsson and bassist Dee Murray to join him for a trip to the Troubadour rock clubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco for weeklong engagements in each venue. This was in the summer of 1970, as the trio were to debut in the U.S. in late August.

The three filed into James’ office to rehearse. Among the songs sampled were “Your Song,” “Bad Side of the Moon” and “Take Me to the Pilot.”

“Within the first eight bars, I knew this was the kind of music I wanted to play,” Olsson says. “It took me totally to a different place. It was inspirational, refreshing. I thought, ‘I haven’t heard this type of music since the Beatles broke through.’ ”

Taken as a whole, the club dates were a make-or-break proposition. If they were well-received, Elton and his little band might well be on their way to international success.

If not …

“(James) said he knew a shoe store down the street (from the Troubadour in L.A.), and you can get a job making shoes,” Olsson says, laughing. “True story. So I didn’t get the job at the shoe store.”

Aside from a 10-year hiatus to pursue his chief nonmusical passion, racecars, Olsson has since been John’s primary drummer. He has been at the epicenter of some of the greatest music and performances in the history of rock music, yet is nonchalant about his rise to fame. From that opening night at the Troubadour (which is memorialized in a color-splashed montage during John’s show at the Colosseum), when Neil Diamond, Quincy Jones, Gordon Lightfoot, Leon Russell and Mike Love of the Beach Boys were in the audience, Olsson has remained hard focused on the music.

“We didn’t have time to figure out what was going on. We were working nonstop,” he says. “We’d go in and record an album, then go and tour. We always were touring some songs that were still in the can, basically, and we didn’t have time to sit back and think, ‘Wow! We’re getting big time here!’ ”

When asked of his music inspirations, Olsson first mentions the Beatles. Many of his references to his playing style, or even his personal disposition -- unassuming, like Ringo -- are geared toward the Fab Four.

“I would say that I’m not a technical drummer at all. I can’t read music. The way I love to play is just putting the headphones on and listening to the Beatles,” Olsson says. “I idolized Ringo. I modeled my playing after him. I loved his work on songs like ‘I Am the Walrus,’ and from him I learned that what you leave out makes it work.”

Olsson favors ballads, quickly listing “Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Circle of Life” and “Empty Garden,” the tribute to John Lennon just added to the Colosseum set, as his favorites.

“When you play the ballads, you can feel the warmth from the crowd,” he says. “We play the same songs every night, the exact same show, but the feeling from the crowd is always special, you can really feel that each night.”

Asked to name another drummer he counts as an influence, Olsson’s answer raises an eyebrow: Stevie Wonder.

“Believe it or not, yeah, the way he plays drums is amazing,” Olsson says, grinning. “I worked with him on the ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ album because I was doing a solo record in the same studio complex (the Record Plant in Hollywood). He heard my drums that Slingerland (Drum Company) had especially built for me and said, ‘Can I borrow your drums?’ So I called the company and asked if it would be possible to make a drum kit exactly the same as mine for Stevie Wonder. They said, ‘Stevie Wonder? What?’ but stopped the production line and had them sent within a week.”

Olsson stops at that story and says, “Funny, isn’t it? Who you meet?”

But Olsson is not terribly fond of telling Elton stories. Years ago, he grew tired of the questions about the iconic, and occasionally temperamental, superstar. “Everyone wanted to know, ‘How many pairs of glasses does he have?’ Or, ‘How high are his shoes?’ because he used to wear these knee-high boots. It was just so boring.”

But he does speak to John’s brilliance. “There’s no two ways about it. I mean, he’s a genius. He’s so kind to people, even though he’ll throw what we call ‘wobblers’ now and then.”

John threw a "wobbler" during a show at the Colosseum in May, tossing a stool and water bottles across the stage and complaining generally about his management team.

“He’ll get mad if the flowers are dead in the dressing room -- or wilting. There is a certain type of flower he hates, I can’t remember which,” Olsson says. “But he’s such a decent person. Since Zachary came along, the baby, it’s made his life a lot calmer.”

The son of John and his husband, David Furnish, Zachary turns 2 on Christmas. He was born to a surrogate mother and also is remarkable because his godmother is Lady Gaga.

“Elton sent me a video of Zachary in France when they were on holiday, in August,” Olsson says. “He’s eating lunch, and you can hear David in the background, ‘What’s that you’re eating, Zachary?’ And he says, ‘Petit pois! Peas!’ So he’s now bilingual! One of the cutest kids I’ve ever seen.”

Olsson likens John’s band to a family. Longtime members back John onstage at the Colosseum. The graybeards include guitarist Davey Johnston, keyboardist Kim Bullard and percussionist Ray Cooper (whom is a flurry of activity onstage behind Olsson). Percussionist John Mahon and bassist Matt Bissonette fill out the band. Bissonette is stepping in for the late Bob Birch, who died at age 56 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in August.

Birch had for years been suffering from pain in his legs and back from being hit by a truck in Montreal in 1995, an accident that nearly killed him. In the shows leading up to his death, Birch was in such pain, he played while seated on a stool.

Olsson says that when it came time to reunite the remaining band members, John pulled the musicians and crew together and said, “We all loved Bob, and we will only think happy, good thoughts about him. There will be no crying, no miserable faces, and we will always have him in our hearts.”

“Of course, by the end of it, everybody was crying,” Olsson says.

He is similarly moved when recalling the “electric” night of Thanksgiving 1974, when Lennon joined Elton and the band for three songs at Madison Square Garden. This was to pay off a bet Lennon had made with John that he would join John for that show if “Whatever Gets You Through the Night” reached No. 1. It did, and Olsson counts the moment as one of the highlights of his career.

“You would not have believed the energy of that night,” he says.

During the show at Caesars, as grainy footage of Lennon charging onstage with John plays on the Colosseum LED screen, Olsson starts the song by stepping into his bass drums with two quick beats.

“Thump-thump” is the sound, and the descriptive drummer is keeping perfect time with every heartbeat in the room.

[kickstarter-promotion]

Another Amazing Kickstarter (Thank You For Sharing by Tim Kohler —Kickstarter) has been published on http://crowdmonsters.com/new-kickstarters/thank-you-for-sharing-by-tim-kohler-kickstarter/

A NEW KICKSTARTER IS LAUNCHED:

To say that I had found myself bit of a crossroads at age thirty would be a massive understatement. Having just left treatment for both addiction and depression, my musical future was uncertain. I had isolated myself from not just my family and friends but many of my musical collaborators as well. 

I’ve been making music since I was fifteen years old, first behind the drum kit in high school jazz band, working my way over to guitar and then finally keyboards in various ‘indie rock’ outfits in high school and college. I’ve played in nearly every style, from the rustic pop-country of Waller to the high-energy, house-influenced Kid Stuff to the psychedelically controlled chaos of Hello Ocho. But songwriting has always been my true passion–the crafting, the arranging, the translation of raw emotion into art–and the idea of a record of my very own had always eluded me. There was just never enough time, never enough motivation. The short-lived Big Tent Revival Party was a solid first attempt to hone sincere, maximalist pop, but it was difficult to keep eight other musicians on the same schedule. Song Week, a recording collaboration with other songwriters, gave me an outlet for my evolving solo material, but by that point my obsession with excess had all but taken over.

And so 2015 opened with me very much on my own, having retreated to the suburbs and residing in structured living. I had little to my name or my spirit, other than my Yamaha keyboard and a used laptop with a copy of Fruity Loops programming software. With a clearer mind and a renewed sense of self, I began developing the blueprints of the songs that would make up my very first solo album. I wanted to use this opportunity of isolation to write a very personal record that captured both the sounds in my brain and the emotions in my heart. Something I could put my own name on. By the fall, I had eight inspired, concrete ideas, all laid out in the clicks, bleeps and glitches of MIDI. 

My aspirations for this record didn’t start high. I wanted the laptop demos to sound like just that. A songwriter striking out on his own, figuring it out. I was just happy that the album could exist in any form at all, after surviving the storm of substance abuse I inflicted on myself and the people who loved me. After adding a handful of guitar and drum tracks with the help of the talented Eric Jennings, I reconnected with Song Week collaborator and great friend Mitchell Hardage, asking him to help fill out the album’s sound with bass guitar (an instrument not particularly in my skill set). Mitchell had other ideas for this record. He felt like the songs needed the touch of a real drummer, the warmth of real keyboards, the soul of real musicians. It was a proposition that was difficult to argue against. We had the time and resources to bring these songs to life, so why not?

And so Thank You For Sharing was slowly but methodically realized over six months, with Mitchell and I using our free Sundays to replace the bleeps and clicks of the laptop demos with live-tracked instrumentation. Gus Fernandez from Pony League added drums on the songs that were too sophisticated for my hands. Jennifer Zuiff, among others, sang some tremendous harmonies. I wrote string and horn charts for five of the songs and found the talented musicians to perform them, adding some elaborate arrangements to these quirky little pop songs.

After taking this record from humble electronic skeletons to full-blown technicolor productions, Mitchell and I are ready to take the next huge step. Just as the songs deserved to be performed instead of programmed, Thank You For Sharing deserves to be mixed and mastered by industry professionals. But the post-production on an album of this nature is far from cheap. And if we want this record to reach its full sonic potential, we’ll have to keep thinking big. This means that Mitchell and I will need:

The songs professionally mixed (about $2,200)

The album professionally mastered (about $1,200)

The session musicians properly compensated (about $900)

This way Thank You For Sharing will sound its very best and brightest. The time-consuming process of recording is complete, and now the post-production costs are the only thing holding this record back. Significant contributions will receive significant rewards, including a free copy of the album, unreleased tracks and much more! Each contributor will also be thanked graciously in the album’s liner notes.

If you guys are exceptionally generous and we reach our goal of $4,500 with time to spare, we could take Thank You For Sharing to an even higher level with further contributions. What does that mean? 

It means that a STRETCH GOAL of $5,800, if met, will allow us to get Thank You For Sharing pressed on vinyl. Having this album preserved in record form would take this dream come true even further. Those who contribute $100 or more would receive a free copy of the album on vinyl if this stretch goal was met!

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY Kickstarter.com and Kicktraq.com VISIT PAGE SOURCE