This idea began in August of 2007 and was set aside for a while until I settled on this version from late 2008. What was I doing the entire Spring and Summer of that year? There’s a six month gap between when this one and the previous one were begun.
Here’s a carwash I recorded in Louisville in 2007. Fair warning there are a few loud pops and clips so maybe don’t turn your volume all the way up.
This one has been through quite a few iterations. I started it in Prague and continued to work on it in New York with Brian Forbes at The Gallery. It was a contender for By The Numbers but was passed over.
Here’s another experiment using a string of different random sounds. I’m not sure if I knew where this was headed, but I must have enjoyed putting it together at some point.
How could I forget this one?
This idea eventually evolved into Easy As Pi from By The Numbers. I worked on this one quite a bit, which explains the number of files below. It began in Prague in early 2007 and was finished almost three years later at The Gallery in New York City.
EASY AS PI
COME OVER HERE
MAKE YOUR ARGUMENT
FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE
SING IT LOUD AND CLEAR
YOU LEARNED THE MOVES
BUT FAILED TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT YOU THOUGHT WAS FAITH
SO NOW YOU JUST PRETEND
THAT YOU’VE BLOWN AWAY
THAT YOU’VE BLOWN AWAY
THAT YOU’VE BLOWN AWAY
THAT YOU’VE BLOWN AWAY
BUT I CAN TAKE YOU FAR FROM HERE
I WON’T MAKE YOU LOST
BUT I’LL ENGINEER
OUR ESCAPE
This one went on quite a trip. My first memory of it was on a bus somewhere in Germany. I think it was raining. I’d created the rhythm in my head using my teeth (as I tend to do), then managed to program it into ProTools a couple weeks later and add some melodies. It went through a few other iterations in Prague then was set aside for a couple years until I started working with Brian Forbes during our time in New York. The last file is where we left it in late 2009.
This one started later the same day as the last one. I’d had the chord progression in my head for a while and took the opportunity to record it. The first file is the original guitar part. The second is after I added some other things later that year.
I wrote and recorded this in our apartment in Prague, soon after I had finally picked up my guitar again after working digitally over the past few months. The first file is where things were finally left in late 2008, followed by an earlier and slower guitars-only version. I still like this song very much and very happy I came across it again. I’ve already rehearsed it a few times this week! Hopefully I can work it into a show someday. To hear it again and feel how it feels is very special indeed.
APARTMENT
DON’T GIVE UP ON ME
I’M A WRECK, YOU SEE
SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH MY HEAD
APARTMENT
DON’T CLOSE IN ON ME YET
JUST LET ME CATCH MY BREATH
BEFORE WE GET DOWN TO WORK
WITHOUT WORK
APARTMENT
TELL ME WHAT COMES NEXT
CAUSE I’M A BIT PERPLEXED
HOW I’VE MADE IT THIS FAR
APARTMENT
TELL ME WHY IM HERE
MAKE IT SO AUSTERE
SO I WILL NEVER FORGET
HOW I LIVED
APARTMENT
YOU’RE MY CLOSEST FRIEND
I HOPE YOU’LL UNDERSTAND
WHEN I BID YOU FAREWELL
This begun on the same day as the previous two and was intended to demonstrate something that had been in my head for awhile. I don’t remember working on it much though upon reflection. It isn’t particularly interesting to me now, but perhaps it will be. There’s a song in there somewhere though. Maybe I’ll serve it better someday.
This is a good example of how some of these electronic ideas evolved in ways I hadn’t anticipated. Here’s an attempt at adding acoustic guitars. The earlier version has no guitars, but an alternate synth melody that I later muted.
Here’s a groove that started in early 2007. By late 2008 it hadn’t changed very much, probably because I neglected to work on it.
Looks like I started this one on the same day as the last one. My objective in listing these from when they were first created is intended to provide a better understanding of how things evolved over time. Should there be another list from when they stopped though? First things first I suppose. Here’s where I left this one in late 2008.
Here’s another that began in January 2007. I remember enjoying walking while listening to this. I could certainly keep working on it. Such is the case with all of these I suppose. They were all abandoned/postponed for the sake of something new, cast off onto a hard drive somewhere. Here’s where I left this one along the way.
I managed to get a little further on this one. It began in early 2007 and proceeded to where I seem to have left things almost two years later in late 2008. I don’t know where I was headed with it to be honest. I obviously enjoyed working on ideas like this though. Why else would I spend so much time on them?
Here’s another electronic idea that failed to materialize. It seems like I just kept layering things but never took anything away. I guess I thought it all sounded pretty cool back in the day though. Every idea seems like the most important thing in the world when I’m working on it. Then you listen back one day and wonder how you ever thought it was worth the time.
All part of the process, right?
I recently attended a show where this band played. Really great songwriting all around. I’ve had their songs in my head all week. Please check out their music and support them. They’re great!
I stopped working on this idea after the first few layers. I guess I was focusing on other ideas and forgot about it one or decided it wasn’t worth pursuing at the time. Maybe I should pick it up again someday? I feel bad that I can’t devote enough time to ideas like these. Don’t some people say how every song they write is like a different child? If that’s the case, I’ve been a very bad father.
Here’s a series of noises I recorded around Prague in late 2006. Each noise was isolated and looped to produce the semblance of a rhythm, then layered with other noises and FX on top. It’s all a bit much for current me to be honest. Why did I spend so much time recording and editing all of it? Why do I feel compelled to organize things in such a way? It’s something in my brain.
Number 7 is a little different though - as I was walking home one night I heard a group of people singing in a tavern down the street from our apartment. It was the only time I ever saw that place open for business. I still wonder what words they are singing. I should have learned more Czech! If anyone can tell me, I would be forever grateful.
More from December 2006. This was an experiment in vocal layering and reverb, drifting back and forth from major to minor. There’s also a later version from a few years later after I added a bunch of FX noises on top of the original tracks.