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Mike Bankhead

More Disjointed Thoughts

Amplified: Elyssa Vulpes 

Let's get international again over here on Amplified.  Today we meet an Italian... an Italian who hosts a podcast called Dare to Be Seen. This podcast features independent female singer-songwriters and lets the world into their individual stories, songs, and lessons learned along their musical journey. The goal is to help women to shine in a male-dominated industry.   Click here to check out the Dare to Be Seen podcast. 

But wait!  That's not all that Elyssa does.  She also does free Kickstart Your Project Consultations as an artist and creativity coach. Click here for more details. 

Let's get to the interview after the photo.

 

1. Let's hear the elevator pitch for your skill set and genre.

I make Indie folk rock with Cabaret and Celtic European influences and sound like a mix of Jade Bird, Neko Case and Martha Wainwright’s Italian Sister.

 

2. I saw some videos of you in your studio working on songs.  How long have you been doing your own engineering?  Do you also handle your own mixing? 

I started learning about audio engineering two decades ago as a result of getting frustrated with other people having control over my recordings. I decided I needed to learn how to do things myself so I asked some friends to help me. However, I decided that was not enough so I enrolled in some university courses so I could learn about recording techniques and midi sampling. I then decided to let someone else do the mixing for me. After a few years and a lot of money wasted I refreshed my knowledge by taking another college course in audio engineering but the truth is that I do not enjoy spending a lot of time mixing. So I tend to use logic or ableton to record and do a basic mix and then, unless it is a demo, I will ask a studio to finish it up and make it sound amazing. 

 

3. What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money? 

Weirdly enough an album by The Trees, a super obscure English psychedelic folk band of the 70s. I got the LP from a second hand shop after listening to it in someone’s basement in Edinburgh. I had other records before but they were either vinyl my brother gifted me (Queen, Led Zeppelin, Doors, Bob Dylan) or cassette tapes as a teenager. Yes I am that old. 

 

4. Tell me about the last concert you saw. 

Oh my , that was a long time ago, pre-covid. I think it was the Flight of the Conchords in Glasgow! they were amazing, and the the stadium was packed. I had first seen them in New Zealand two decades prior when nobody knew who they were and swore they would be famous. We used to play at the San Francisco Bath house together! (though they won’t remember me ;P )  Well they are now super famous which goes to show I am a good talent scout! Maybe I should change job…:) 

 

5. You're bilingual.  How do you decide which language to use when you write a song? 

The country in which I currently live has been the biggest influence. So when I lived in Italy I wrote in Italian and when I lived in English speaking countries I wrote in English. However, recently I have started writing more in Italian mainly because it really is a lot easier for me to remember lyrics in Italian. I also have been told that my voice sounds better in that language. I am not sure that is true, but I feel that writing in Italian can be easier and possibly closer to who I am.... ? At the same time, it depends on the subject matter too. I left Italy when I was 18 so there are some themes I 
learnt to explore only later. Especially when it comes down to feelings I learned to express myself in English a lot better after leaving Italy. So it’s a bit tricky. It is important to me that my audience understands my lyrics. That has always been the most important factor, but now I am beginning to think that maybe that’s not something I should focus on too much just because otherwise I would never again write in Italian! So I tend to have a 50% ratio, or at least aim for that. 

 

6. Which artists do you consider to be your biggest influences? 

I have lots of influences, but mainly Italian  singer songwriters from the 70s (De Andre’, Battisti, Guccini) , prog rock bands such as the King Crimson, classic rock such as Led Zeppelin, Doors and Queen, and English, Irish and Scottish folk especially from the 70s, like The Trees and Sandy Danny and  American  storyteller / poet songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joan Baez. 

 

7. If you could choose for a listener to learn one thing about you from listening to your songs, what would that be? 

That we need to talk about taboo and uncomfortable truths. We need not shy away from the darkness in our souls in order to transform,  transmute and transcend. Transformation begins with acceptance. Shining a light on our fears is the first step. Then we need to harness our courage to use our pain to help us learn how to be happy. Of course we cannot always be happy and that’s ok too. 

 

8. What's next for you? 

I have an acoustic album of new songs that I want to record. It will be more stripped down than the last three albums, probably just guitar and voice or piano and voice. I am re-learning to play the piano and it’s super exciting !! I also have an electronic project on the go which is completely different from anything I have ever done... recently I attended a Berklee School of Music Songwriting course that blew my mind. I am now inspired to go back to some of the songs I have already written and re-work them to make them even better. I wish I had three times for time in my day to do all the things I want to do… and if I could I would just play music all day! I also am into my drumming a lot and am planning to start a new band as a drummer vocalist when I move to New Zealand in September. We will see if I can keep a beat and sing at the same time!

***

You can connect with Elyssa over on her official website, and also on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

04/12/2021

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in songwriting, Italian, Amplified, guitarists, artists, Elyssa Vulpes, drummer, engineer

DAOTW6: Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy 

Dad's Album of the Week is back.  This is the series where I briefly review my late father's vinyl.

Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy

The name of this album has aged poorly, as I understand that the Roma people, elegant as they might be, do not prefer the exonym used here.  This album was released in the year of my birth.  Yes, I'll make you look that up.

Al Di Meola is a guitarist - which should be obvious from the cover.  He was in Return to Forever before releasing his own music.  This is his second solo album.  It is wordless.  There is a great deal of guitar playing, very jazzy, lead bits, and such.  It's not my thing.  Maybe that's because Stanley Clarke isn't on this album, though I mean no offense to Anthony Jackson.  Maybe that's because the music is not as incendiary as what I have heard from Return to Forever.  This gentleman is a virtuoso at his chosen instrument, so if you play guitar, it might very well be your thing.

04/08/2021

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in albums, guitarists, DAOTW, jazz, fusion, Al Di Meola

Amplified: Chris Keats 

Chris Keats is the first British person to appear here on this interview series.  After the picture, let's amplify his voice... and as I did with our Canadian guest recently, I have left the  English spelling unchanged.

 

 

1. Let's hear the elevator pitch for your skill set and genre. 

Music to me is better than therapy. After my mum died by suicide I promised myself that I would do something everyday to make myself a better musician & a better human being. I write acoustic folk pop songs to heal both myself & others. 

 

2. Your bio says you're a world traveler.  Can you give me three countries you have visited that are foreign to you, a favorite food you experienced there, and something you have learned from your visit? 

The first place that comes to mind is Kathmandu in Nepal. I spent 3 months there in 2013 volunteering with a charity called The Umbrella Foundation which helped children who were trafficked during the civil war get back to their families, as well as clothing & educating them. We ate a lot of Dal Bhat with the children for breakfast & dinner but my favourite was a Nepalese Thali! Lovely! I learnt first hand what malnutrition looks & feels like & the impact that had on the lives of the children. I also realised how lucky I was & am to live in the west & to have a fantastic quality of life. 

Secondly I went to Rome in 2018 for a solo adventure. The pizza was amazing! (I wasn’t vegan at that point so it was meaty pizzas!) I learnt that there are other ways to live, other than the live to work life I had led in England. That the Italian people love life & they live it to the fullest! Very inspiring. 

I went to India in 2015 for 3 months. I loved the Massaman Curries I had there. I had it a lot. With a little bit of spice it was so tasty! I’d go back just for the food. What did I learn there? I learnt a lot about just being, rather than doing. I learnt to appreciate the small things. I learn what it was like to live in a chaotic but beautiful society. I re-learned to love my own company & be with myself. 

  

3. What was the first album you can remember buying with your own money? 

There are 2. The first one was 2 Unlimited’s second album called No Limits, which is a pop dance record which I loved! I’m listening to it now! 

I also remember buying Queen’s Greatest Hits 2 with my Dad at Virgin Records Stores in Brighton & then on the way home the car ran out of petrol and we had to wait by the side of the road for what felt like forever before getting more petrol & finally getting home! Such a great album! I love Queen! 

  

4. Tell me about the last concert you saw. 

Wow! The last proper gig I went to was in February 2020 to see City & Colour at The London Palladium! It was great. It was one of those gigs where I was incredibly into the band at the time & they had a new album out which was great. I miss playing & going to gigs so much right now! It’s been far too long! 

  

5. It seems like songwriting helps you to deal with trauma and pain and general life difficulty. When you write something to help heal yourself, how do you decide if you should also share it with an audience? 

Yes songwriting has been therapy for over a decade now. Since 2006 really.  

I have held back on some of the more painful songs I’ve written but I made the decision quite recently to start playing them & to record them. I’ve come to realise that I don’t know whether a song will be successful or not, or whether it is a good song or not. So I’ve decided to let the people decide. If I release a song & it helps one person that is a success to me!  

So going forward I won’t be holding back! 

  

6. Among the influences you note in your bio, I am only familiar with the music of Neil Young, so this question is about his music specifically.  What things from Neil Young's vast array of sounds, styles, and songs do you take with you into your own work? 

I love all of his music but my songwriting is influenced by his Harvest era work, After the Goldrush, Zuma & also Rust Never Sleeps. I love Harvest Moon too! I always planned to start with an acoustic set & then have the second half of the set be electric. That’s still a plan of mine! 

  

7. How has the ongoing pandemic affected your music career? 

I have meant not playing shows for the longest time I’ve had for decades. It is only recently that it has really started to bother me. I’m very patient but I’ve got to the point where I want to play live shows & go & see other artists perform. I want to go & perform at festivals & get back to travelling & playing shows!  

It has been a financial challenge as I would ‘normally’ be funding my music career with the money I make from working as a Physiotherapist! That isn’t possible right now.  

Ultimately it has meant I’ve started coaching the guitar & ukulele more and learnt a lot about how the music industry & the music business works & about marketing my artist career & growing my fanbase. I also wrote a lot of songs in the first lockdown that I must go back to. 

Overall I have made a positive time of it! 

  

8. So far, you have released a few singles.  What's next? Do you have plans to make an album? 

Yes I’ve released 4 singles since September 11th 2020 with a new single, SPOTLIGHT, out on April 9th. Then my first EP WHEN THE SAILS COLLAPSE, AS LIVE is hopefully coming out in May.  

I want to release my first album in either March or September 2022 & record a total of 3 albums by 2025. 

I’ve spent a lot of time in the last year learning the business side of the industry so it’s time to write a lot more songs & get back into the studio!

***

 

Did you notice that Chris Keats has a new single coming out this week?  "Spotlight" is coming your way on Friday, April 9th.  Click right here to follow Chris on Spotify.  

You can also find Chris over on Bandcamp, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

04/01/2021

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in songwriting, suicide, Amplified, guitarists, Chris Keats, Spotlight, Neil Young, Kathmandu, When the Sails Collapse, As Live, folk, Brighton

Songwriting Story - Baile Conmigo 

I had this bass line in D major around for awhile.  It was fun enough to play through that it deserved to have a song written around it, even though I don't generally write in major keys.  The bass line best lent itself to Latin-influenced music... cumbia, salsa, rumba, merengue, bachata... something like that... the problem is that I don't know how to write any of that music.  Where would I begin?

I began with research.  I listened to a handful of songs from each of the above mentioned genres.  This part of the process probably deserved a lot more time than I dedicated to it... but it was a decent start.  Next, I asked a few friends who I know listened to Latin music if they could tell me more about it.  That didn't work.  The general answer there was that they have it around to dance to, but they couldn't really tell me anything about it.  (Note to self:  do NOT ask non-musicians about music.)  On to the Internet!

For some reason, salsa became the genre of choice here.  Any article or commentary I could find online about salsa music history and structure, well, I devoured it.  I learned that the traditional structure for this genre doesn't even remotely resemble the way that I understand songwriting... then decided that if I attempted to be "authentic" and write a salsa song by traditional structure without truly understanding it, well, that's not very authentic at all, is it?  The solution?  I ended up writing a pop/rock song in the normal pop/rock tradition, but with Latin influences.  Of course, the lyrics had to be in Spanish, there was never any doubt about that.

The result is "Baile Conmigo".  Here are the lyrics.

Baile conmigo 
Baile conmigo 

Oye hermosa 
Pareces muy sola 
Charlar contigo 
No hay quien osa 

¿Por qué? 
¿Por qué? 

Oye hermosa 
Tanta guapeza 
Hace una persona 
Muy muy nerviosa 

No soy metido 
Te hablo, te pido 
Te hablo, te pido 
Baile conmigo

 

This is what the artwork for it looks like.

As usual with my songs, I had a several very talented folks help out with this recording.  Here are the song credits:

Mike Bankhead - bass, piano, vocals 
Khrys Blank - claves, shakers, all sorts of percussion 
Brian Hoeflich - drums 
Phillip Bradley-Hutchinson - trumpet 
Erich Reith - congas, all sorts of percussion 
Rich Reuter - guitar 

Produced by Patrick Himes & Mike Bankhead 

Engineered & Mixed by Patrick Himes at Reel Love Recording Company, Dayton, Ohio

***

Percussive power couple Khrys and Erich were kind enough to do their usual moving and shaking all over the recording, supporting Brian Hoeflich's steady drumming.  (I asked him if he could give me a salsa beat, and he gave me a salsa beat.)  Phillip Bradley-Hutchinson's trumpet is a perfect addition.  Rich Reuter deftly brings lead guitar licks that sing ever so smoothly over all of it.  Finally, as usual, Patrick Himes and engineering and mixing skills present the best version of my work... and he didn't even blink when the indie rock guy showed up with a decidedly non-indie rock song.

This song was recorded amongst the songs that ended up on Anxious Inventions & Fictions, but doesn't really fit in with those songs, so it stands on its own as a single.

You'll be able to listen to "Baile Conmigo" this Friday April 2nd.  It will be available right here on my website, and also over on my Bandcamp page. You'll be able to download on Bandcamp for "pay what you wish" pricing, even if what you wish happens to be zero.  If you do decide to offer some small measure of compensation for the download on Bandcamp, well, since April 2nd is Bandcamp Friday, 100% of all funds will come straight to me, as the kind folks at Bandcamp are waiving their customary fees that day.

 

03/25/2021

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in news, songwriting, liner notes, true stories, recording, Brian Hoeflich, bass, piano, Patrick Himes, Baile Conmigo, Spanish, salsa, trumpet, Rich Reuter, Khrys Blank, Erich Reith, Phillip Bradley-Hutchinson

Thoughts on disappearing 

Let's say I vanish.  How long would it take before anyone noticed?  That's a little personal mental game that I have been playing for decades now.  Here are three editions.

*** 

I'm not here
This isn't happening

Not only is Colin's bass line here absolutely perfect, this song should be held up as a shining example of "how to use an Ondes Martenot."

Late fall 1999.  I've been in France nearly three weeks.  My first trip out of the country, and I went alone.  By this time in the trip, I have made many new friends (several of whom remain friends to this day), had unforgettable experiences, and was nearly out of funds. I was also at this point alone in Arles... maybe that place has a general deleterious effect on mental health. The enthusiastic and amazed "I'm not here/this isn't happening" feelings from earlier in the trip had fallen away, and the loneliness began to clothe itself in those same words.  I strolled alongside the Rhône one night, giving serious consideration to hopping over the barrier into the black water below and letting it take me to the Mediterranean.  This thought appeared over and over: not a single human being has any idea where I am right now.  If I jump, how long before anyone finds out who I was or where I was from?  Would anyone even bother to ask?

 

***

China 2009. I am in a city with millions of people. It is the weekend. I am alone.  I am alone, but I am conspicuous.  I tower over the vast majority of the surrounding humans, and I am much darker than them.  People stare.  People ask to have their photos taken with me.  I can't communicate, as I don't speak Cantonese.  It is hot and the humidity is stifling.  The subway is sparkling clean, air conditioned, and has signs that sometimes resemble English.  Despite being a very foreign person in what to me is a very foreign land, at no point do I feel unsafe... uneasy, yes... unsafe, no.  Surely there is crime somewhere, but I don't see any.  Surely there is abject poverty, but in the tiny pieces of the city I pass through, I don't see any.  The thought is back: not a single human being has any idea where I am right now.  What happens if I have an accident?  What happens if I disappear?  It is Saturday, and I don't have to go back to the office until Monday.  Surely someone would notice on Monday that I didn't arrive at work.  What happens then?  Do they call the hotel?  I don't have a mobile phone that functions in this country, so it is impossible to call me.  Would anyone even bother to search?  Are morgues here even set up to accommodate someone of my height?

 

***

Chris.

 

Summer 2003.  I have driven West on I-10 from El Paso to Tucson.  I have passed a border patrol checkpoint not all that close to the border that made no sense at all to someone who grew up in the Midwest.  I have passed saguaro cactus that I have only seen in cartoons and on television.  I have made this trip to attend a convention.  I don't have any friends here.  I spend the weekend alone.  To this day, I don't remember any of the content from the convention, I don't remember any of the meals I might have consumed, I don't remember any of the sights or sounds of Tucson.  I remember only the sweltering desert heat and the overwhelming loneliness.  My friends and family are nearly two thousand miles east and north.  Here comes that thought: not a single human being has any idea where I am right now.  If I melt into the desert, how long before anyone even realizes that I'm missing?  Will anyone even notice?

***

I play this game less frequently these days because, well, we're in a pandemic and I have turned into a hermit.  Now that we are a one car household, the most readily available form of transportation for me is my legs.  If I take the car, my wife would notice.  If she gets home with the car and I'm not here, she would notice.  Some games outlive their utility.

 

03/22/2021

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in Chris Cornell, depression, Radiohead, How to Disappear Completely, Disappearing One, Ondes Martenot

DAOTW5: Return to Forever featuring Chick Corea - No Mystery 

Dad's Album of the Week is back.  This is the series where I briefly review my late father's vinyl.


Return to Forever featuring Chick Corea - No Mystery

Another fusion album from my father's collection.  There is funk here.  There is rock here.  There is jazz here.  Why did my dad like this so much?  Well, he was a drummer.  The drums on the opening track, "Dayride", are insane... there are brief periods of frenetic fills and explosivity... it's much more than just keeping time.  Oh, and look, that first track was written by bass legend Stanley Clarke. 

It's an interesting approach to collaboration here.  On the first side of the album, each member of the band gets a song, and the last song is credited to all four of them.  On the second side of the album, well Chick Corea wrote all of those, but that's ok, as he put this band together.

The bass lines are awesome, and mostly so advanced that I don't know if I'll ever have the chops to play them.  There are blistering guitar solos.  There are all sorts of interesting keyboard licks from both normal acoustic pianos and all kinds of electric pianos and synth.  Even congas and a marimba show up on this album.   

Summary:  I very much dig.  If you are a musician, go listen to this.  The musicianship on display here is outstanding.  If you're the sort that is swayed by critical acclaim, this won a Grammy.

03/18/2021

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in albums, vinyl, bass, piano, bassists, DAOTW, funk, jazz, fusion, Return to Forever, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, No Mystery

Concert Memories - Stabbing Westward & Placebo (with Flick) at Newport Music Hall in Columbus 

Here's another concert that, if it were a human being, would be of legal drinking age in the United States.  In case you are wondering, yes, this makes me feel old.  Here's how long ago this show was:

That's right, almost exactly 22 years ago.  Also, I understand that inflation is totally a thing, so maybe I shouldn't gaze too terribly long in wonder at three bands for $15... but the Internet tells me that the value of that in today's dollars is $23.55, and that's still pretty great for a show of this quality.

The openers were a band from Missouri called Flick.  I had never heard of them before.  I loved them from the first ten seconds of their set, their sound was pretty much dead center on my musical interests at the time.  After their set, I wandered on out to the lobby area to meet them... and that was difficult, because a LOT of people were doing the same thing.  I made sure to speak to their bass player, whose name is Eve.  This might not have been a good idea, because I had a couple of very large beers before the show and during their set... on an empty stomach... and this was just a few months after I was old enough to purchase alcohol, so I was a rather inexperienced imbiber... I remember not making any sense while trying to talk to Eve, and possibly slurring words just a touch.  She was kind enough to sign my ticket stub as you see above.  I didn't have another drop of alcohol the rest of the evening.

I don't remember if I bought the Flick CD that evening, or if I picked it up at Best Buy or something the following week.  I still have that CD, and I still like these songs, even though I don't think I've ever met anyone else who has heard of this band.

Placebo were next.  They were on tour in support of the Without You I'm Nothing album.  I had already been playing that album, and if memory serves, I had gone out to get their previous album as well before the show.  Shows where you know the songs are a different level of enjoyment.  Placebo were outstanding.  I'm glad I got the chance to see them on this tour... I had no idea they were going to have the level of success that they ended up having.  After their set, I headed back down to the lobby to talk to them.  It was impossible to get anywhere remotely near Brian Molko.  As is my custom, I was sure to talk to the bass player, whose name is Stefan.  I expressed how much I enjoyed their set and the album... he commented that he could see me rather clearly in the audience (I'm taller and blacker than most everyone at rock shows), and then tried flirting with me a little.  

The headliners for this one were Stabbing Westward.  They were still touring for Darkest Days. This band was my first significant exposure to "industrial" music, if you don't count Nine Inch  Nails... but I had never considered going to check out NIN in concert.  

Stabbing Westward brought fog machines and an interesting light show.  I don't think I really "got" all of that extra stuff back then, I remember wondering why they didn't just bring the rock.  These days, I think I am more understanding of some of the other artistic things that can come with the rock show.  Also, there was certainly some kind of drum programming, loops, and/or synth happening with these songs, but I also didn't think very deeply about that at the time.  I gave Wither Blister Burn & Peel and Darkest Days a cursory listen to go with this blog post... trying to remember what I liked about this band back then.  Not all of the songs still hold up for me... also, the music is a great deal angrier than most of what I listen to these days.  I clearly understand why 21 year old me dug this though.

This was definitely a memorable show, and I certainly got my $15 worth of value.

03/14/2021

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in true stories, Concerts, Newport Music Hall, Columbus, Flick, Stabbing Westward, Placebo, Eve Hill, Stefan Olsdal, Without You I'm Nothing, Darkest Days

Look, there's a gun 

Got a gun, fact I got two
That's ok man, 'cause I love God
Glorified version of a pellet gun
Feels so manly when armed

Double think, dumb is strength
Never shot at a living thing
Glorified version of a pellet gun
Feels so manly when armed

***

This post isn't 100% an excuse to post a fantastic Pearl Jam song, but I couldn't resist the opportunity.

This past week, I go visit the optometrist.  This is the first time I had actually set foot outside of my home in several weeks.  It's dangerous out there, what with a killer virus and killer human beings running around, you know?  I am at the counter settling up, and preparing to leave - masked of course - and a gentleman approaches with a gun in a holster on his hip.

I live in Ohio.  The law in Ohio says that it is perfectly ok to carry a gun that you legally possess openly in public.  I know this.  This knowledge does not prevent me from feeling anxious and glancing around for all of the available exits.  How do I know that this person will not draw the weapon and start shooting at every moving thing he sees?  I don't have any way to know that.  

I don't want to stare at this person.  He is on the phone just outside of the doors.  (Due to safe distancing practices, they do not open the doors unless you are a customer, you have an appointment, and you have called to tell them you have arrived.)  The doors are not opening, so he is not yet on the phone with the establishment.  I take a second glance at his direction, and right next to his gun - on his belt - I notice an oval badge, golden in color, inset in blue.  This appears to be a law enforcement officer.  He isn't in uniform.  Neither one of these facts make me feel any more safe.  Law enforcement officers in my home state of Ohio have a well documented tradition of killing people who look like me without any valid reason to do so.

Eventually, he is granted entry to the office, and heads over to the waiting area behind me to have a seat.  I try to stay calm.  I keep my hands out of my pockets, you know, just in case he gets ideas.  I do not turn behind me to look at him.  I silently urge the very nice employee in front of me to finish with the paperwork so I can exit as quickly as possible.

You know how this ends.  Nothing happened.  I went about my day.  It would appear that the only effect is to my mental health and general sense of well-being.  

03/06/2021

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in anxiety, true stories, Glorified G

A thread from my Twitter about songwriting 

Plenty of folks don't use Twitter.  If you are one of those folks, you didn't see some brief songwriting thoughts I wrote over there earlier this week.  I feel like sharing those here.

***

I have been learning Fountains Of Wayne songs on piano recently, mostly due to my love and admiration for fellow bass player Adam Schlesinger and his work...  That said, for any songwriter, the catalog of songs written by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger is basically a "how-to" on the craft... Here are some things that I am taking note of as I work my way through learning the songs from across all of the Fountains Of Wayne albums.

The songs are simple.  The country song in the catalog has only 3 major key chords (keeping in mind the axiom about how many chords country songs need to be)... You won't find a great deal of suspended or diminished chords, not a lot of add9 or 13 chords... the occasional 7 chord yes, but it's mostly major and minor triads... Personally, I like messing around with more complicated chords when I write songs, and of course, there isn't anything wrong with that... but these songs are a good reminder that you can keep it very very very simple and succeed.

When there is a bridge, it is exemplary.  I would love to just take the Fountains Of Wayne bridge-writing skill and append it to my brain.

The leading chords into a chorus, back into a verse, and anywhere they need a turnaround... their choices with these are impeccable.

The tactic of changing the key for the last verse and chorus of a song... they don't go to that all that often, but when they do, it works perfectly.

Professional songwriting "experts" will tell you to not make specific references to locations or people in your songs.  Fountains Of Wayne does this as many times as they like. Places throughout New York and New Jersey are named clearly in their songs.  As a Midwesterner, I never had the experience growing up of driving over the Tappan Zee bridge, down I-95, on the LIE, riding the Acela, or being led into Penn Station. That doesn't matter.  I don't enjoy the songs any less.  The songs would not be better if those specific life experiences were homogenized or made generic.  Write what you know.  Write for YOU first.  They do this over and over again. "Hackensack" is a brilliant song, and someone not having visited it does not change that.

The lyrics have clearly been chosen with care.  There are interesting and non-obvious rhymes and near rhymes.  For the most part they are all sorts of conversational.

If you write songs, definitely re-visit these albums.

***

If you happen to use Twitter, I invite you to follow me on that platform.  You can find me here.

03/01/2021

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in songwriting, albums, Fountains Of Wayne, nostalgia, bass, piano, bassists, Adam Schlesinger, Hackensack

Songwriting Story - Idti Spat 

Here are the lyrics:

Baby can you find my earplugs
They keep the city sounds away
I need to take a syrup shot, it's all I've got
To finally find a quiet place

Go to sleep

Baby can you see the monsters
Their chatter keeps me up all night
This one lost a job and that one had a kid
At least we're getting on all right

Go to sleep

Why can't I ever feel this good?
What's it like to be understood?
Who are we and where is peace?
And how mortality?
When do I go to sleep?

I don't know where I am
Halfway between cold and home
I need to take a syrup shot, it's all I've got
To finally find a quiet place

Go to sleep

***

It was my honor to be the first guest on the brand new songwriting podcast, DUET OR DON'T.  Tune in, and listen to Baby Molly and me write our way through this song.

02/07/2021

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in songwriting, co-writing, anxiety, true stories, collaboration, art, Baby Molly, Duet or Don't, insomnia

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