artwork by Rob McCowan of Odd Hourz Creative

I don't often write happy songs.  I don't ever write songs about my wife.  The reason for both of these things is that my attempts generally turn out to be awful.  Low quality.  Banal.  My wife has come to accept that neither she nor our relationship are about to be subject matter for my art.  Surprise!  Here's a change of pace.

3rd November 2022 was our 15th wedding anniversary.  That's worth celebrating in a special way, so we're over in Mauritius not working and enjoying a vacation.  (Clearly, I'm writing this blog entry well in advance of our departure.)  I'm not great at anniversary presents.  I think the last decent one from me was a set of diamond earrings, but alas, I am no longer in the jewelry buying business.  However, I can manage to write a song as a present. That's the decision.  Misty gets a song.

I started by borrowing the chord progression from one of my favorite Radiohead songs.  Next I worked out a melodic structure, being careful to make sure the melody didn't sound anything like the song from which I took the chords.  (I challenge you to figure out which song the chords are from.)  I knew that I wanted the overall feel to be like an Elbow song.  Remember, we both love Elbow.  

Verse 1:

A gentle tremor wakes me, I look out the window of the train 
The golden hills of Burgundy, brighter in life than in paint 
Where white and red are pseudonyms for Meursault or Beaujolais 
This is better now that you are here

Those lyrics are about our visit to France's wine-producing region Bourgogne.  I had been there before when I was much much younger and single. Some time ago, we went as a couple.

Verse 2:

Market in the morning, shouting from the street in the night 
Cobblestones and Catalan, saffron threads and candlelight 
Sudden crushing sickness that I don’t have the energy to fight 
This is better because you are here

We went to Barcelona for our 5th anniversary.  I managed to get the worst food poisoning of my life on this trip.  That experience is now immortalized in song.

Verse 3:

A gentle tremor wakes me, I look out the window of the plane 
The takeoffs and the landings, cruising altitude, champagne 
Walking through the streets of Paris, Nouméa, Marseille 
This is better because you are here

My first version of this song did not have a third verse.  I remember discussing this with the kind gentleman who engineered the song, Rich Reuter.  He thought a third verse would be a good thing.  Also, I thought I'd get closer to feeling like an Elbow song with a third verse.  When it came time to do the vocals, Rich told me that my lyrics weren't good enough.  He was right.  I took a few minutes and re-wrote the third verse.  This is much better.  It even has a reference to an Elbow song or two, though I doubt it's enough to get me sued.  Like the rest of the song, it's one hundred percent based on reality.

Chorus:

Side by side never mind the where 
Up and down good and bad to share 
Having holding even when I break 
Losing you is more than I can bear                         
So don’t you disappear

There you have it.

I came to Rich with the song all structured out, and as we talked through it, there were some changes.  I knew I needed a bridge, but I wasn't sure how to go about it.  Rich wrote the instrumental bridge, and came up with the idea for the bass solo by noodling around on a guitar. I liked the notes he played, and figured that it would make more sense to have a bass solo in this song than a guitar solo.  Rich also ran with my idea of double tracking bass in the turnaround after the second chorus... we've got a nice bass harmony in there.  Due to the changes he made to the song, it's only fair that he gets an official songwriting credit.  His ability to understand the mood and feel I was going for led to excellent instrumental choices.

"For Misty" is very likely my best vocal performance thus far.  Previously, I think it was this song, or perhaps this one, but not anymore.  I'm the only vocalist here, and I'm proud of the harmonies.

Normally I would link to it here, but remember how I'm writing this blog entry in the past?  Well, this song is a surprise.  At the time of writing, Misty doesn't know that it's a thing.  Assuming I executed my plan correctly, she found out back on November 3rd, which was this past Thursday.  I encourage you, dear reader, to go listen to "For Misty" on the streaming service of your choice repeatedly and often.  If you'd like to give us an anniversary present, you can download a high quality version of the song over on my Bandcamp page for $15, or if you can wait a couple of weeks to give us that present, I'll have it up on my official website here when we get back from our trip.

Credits where credits are due:

Lyrics by Mike Bankhead 
Music by Mike Bankhead & Rich Reuter 

Mike Bankhead - bass, triangle, vocals 
Rich Reuter - guitar, keys 
Kyle Sweney - drums 

Engineered & Mixed by Rich Reuter at Homeway Studios in Dayton, Ohio 

Additional Engineering by Seth Canan & Chris Stewart at Trojan City Studios in Troy, Ohio 

Produced by Rich Reuter & Mike Bankhead 

Mastered by Tim Pritchard at Great Horned Audio in Dayton, Ohio 

Artwork by Rob McCowan at Odd Hourz Creative in Austin, Texas 

©℗ 2022 You Could Be My Aramis Music (BMI)

Those of you who live in the Dayton area and follow local music are probably already familiar with Doctor Art Jipson, but for readers who are not, I offer a brief introduction.  Doctor Jipson is a professor at the University of Dayton with expertise in sociology and criminal justice.  Yeah, heavy stuff.  When he is not shaping young minds in the classroom, he is shaping them via music, as he is DJ on a WUDR program called Your Tuesday Afternoon Alternative.  I think it's fair to say that there isn't anyone who cheers louder for independent musicians from Dayton and around Ohio than Dr. J.   

Recently, Dr. J has been playing "I Am a Number" on his show.  Now, I didn't release or advertise that particular song as a "single".  All of Anxious Inventions & Fictions is FCC friendly, so all of it could conceivably receive radio play, and while I encourage the folks at college and indie radio who receive the album to play whatever they want, most often folks don't get past the "singles".  Dr. J plays the music he likes, the music that moves him, and I am thoroughly pleased that he likes "I Am a Number" enough to give it airplay.  That being the case, as a gift to him - and also to all of you out there - here's the story of that song.  I hope you enjoy the story, and I hope you like the song as much as Dr. J does.  (Thank you, Dr. J.)

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Ten dollar book filled with twenty cent words
Juxtaposed only to make it absurd
Carelessly tripping your way around diction
Turning your stories from fact into fiction

I had the above lyrics sitting around for several years.  Despite what they sound like given today's climate, they are not about any political figures.  Those lyrics were originally about a certain social media platform with the word "book" in its name, and about how people would share things that are verifiably false or absolute nonsense.  Note that again, I wrote these words long before it became common knowledge that social media is weaponized as a propaganda tool by all sorts of nefarious actors.  It took awhile before I was able to compose any music to fit the lyrics.  When I finally did, I had to simplify the lyrics a bit to make them fit the song, make them easier to sing (a nod to Greg Owens for the idea to turn "tripping" into "trip"), and create some extra alliteration ("stories" became "tale").

I composed the music on piano, like I often do.  The main riff consists of individual notes F, A, and C, followed by a G major chord and two F major chords.  Right from the beginning, I knew I wanted this to be a guitar rock song, and I knew I wanted it to sound like Knoxville's own Superdrag.  John Davis - formerly of Superdrag and currently the man behind The Lees Of Memory - is a strong influence on my songwriting.  You don't always hear it, but on Anxious Inventions & Fictions, that influence is clear on "I Am a Number" and "Promise".  In order to get to the sound I wanted, I recruited Tim Pritchard (who you might know from bands such as The Boxcar Suite and Shrug) to play guitar, since he loves the work of John Davis as much, if not more, than I do.  I told Tim that I wanted it to sound like a Superdrag song, and he knew what to do.  When there were questions about a tonal approach for some of the guitar parts, I asked him to imagine what Brandon Fisher would do, and away we went.

Also, community drummer Brian Hoeflich deserves a special shout-out here.  I asked him to do his best Don Coffey Jr. impression, and he did that.  However, I made an arrangement change at the last moment, in the studio... a couple of deviations from how I had done the demo.  I tried to explain it verbally, but the most effective way to show Brian what I was looking for was to sit at the piano and play/sing the entire song for him.  We went to the piano, he brought a piece of paper, and he charted the entire song as I played it and sang.

I had one music writer tell me that this song reminded him of Hüsker Dü.  Now, I have only listened to three or four Hüsker Dü songs, and although I know how respected Bob Mould is (I see you Joe Anderl), I have only listened to a couple of his solo albums.  I haven't listened to nearly enough of that band to be influenced by them directly... but I have 5 Superdrag albums, and have seen them 3 times... so, any Hüsker Dü influence one might hear in my music comes filtered through John Davis.

I had been playing this one out at Showcase Thursdays and other open mic events on piano before eventually getting in the studio with it.  Strangely enough, even though bass is my main instrument, I didn't write the bass line for the song until the day before tracking it.  Listen closely during the chorus, and you might notice that the bass notes follow the vocal melody, and not necessarily exactly what the guitars are playing. 

As they say, if you can't figure out what the product is on a given tool or website, then YOU are the product.  When it comes to social media, we are the product.  That's something worth keeping in mind.  Obviously, I use social media, I mean, you probably arrived at this blog post via a link from one of the sites where I maintain a presence. These tools have their uses, and I'm not trying to say that they are all evil all of the time.  What I am trying to say is best expressed in the song lyrics:

How great is your stake in me?
This is all marketing data for sale
How much will you lie to me?
This is all marketing, targeted offering
I am a number 

Making an album is a long journey.  The time spent writing and re-writing, then re-writing again at home.  The arranging, which often requires another re-write.  The demos.  The gathering in the studio to discuss and plan.  Session after session after session with a whole bunch of really talented people.  Take after take after take of singing, repeating the process if you're a little sharp or a little flat.  The listening to studio bounces over and over and over and over.  The mixing.  That's my process and my journey at least.  Many musicians probably have it easier.  For me, it's a long journey, and it's hard work, and I wouldn't be able to do it without the help of a great many people.

I'd like to celebrate a little more than a year spent working on Anxious Inventions & Fictions by means of a photo blog entry.   

Let's begin:

This is engineer extraordinaire Patrick Himes adjusting the boom for Eric Cassidy on June 2, 2019.  Eric sang harmonies on "Bright Ideas".  Ultimately, that song didn't make it to Anxious Inventions & Fictions, but it is out right now as a stand-alone single.  Please click here to listen to it.

Here's Eric Cassidy again, this time holding an accordion.  He played this on June 30, 2019, during the outro on "Pauline".  You can hear this song on Defacing the Moon, as the songs from that album were chosen from these sessions.

This is Dustin Booher, with me on June 29,2019.  He is a fellow Xenian, and we have known each other since we were five years old.  He sang on "Sunday (That Pill)", which is on Defacing the Moon.  He also lent outstanding vocals to "Never Let Go", which is the 4th song on Anxious Inventions & Fictions.

There is Dustin in the background... and here is Tim Pritchard on July 27, 2019, playing guitar.  You can hear his fine work on "I Am a Number" and "Promise".

This is Jackie and Brandon, who are half of Westerly Station. I met them in Austin at the CD Baby DIY Musician Conference.  (I wrote about that before.)  Brandon is a fellow Ohioan, and we even grew up in the same county.  It was quite convenient that they came from their Texas home to Ohio when I was in the studio, and they had the time to stop by.  Brandon played mandolin on "Sunday (That Pill)", and it sounds great.  

Hello there, Ken Hall.  Normally, you can find him seated behind a piano, a task he performs in Shrug and Human Cannonball.  I invited him to play a little trombone.  You can hear Ken play for about a second and a half on "Your Anthem", which is the first track on Anxious Inventions & Fictions.

This handsome fella is Kent Montgomery.  He is the lead guitarist from The New Old Fashioned.   He was kind enough to play guitar on "Never Let Go", "Won't Love You Anymore", "Run To You", and "Wapakoneta".  That last song didn't make the album, but I will release it at some point.  

Here I am with Nathan Peters, who I've known over 20 years.  You might recognize him as the lead singer and keyboardist from legendary Dayton band Captain of Industry.  These days, he fronts Lioness.  He was kind enough to come to the studio and play piano on "Goodbye".  I wrote the song on piano, but I don't have the chops to give it the recorded performance that it deserves.  Thanks to Nathan's work, it sounds so very good.

The most recent photo.  January 23, 2020.  As you can see from the wood floors and the walls, this photo was taken after the great Reel Love flood and subsequent remodel.  (Scroll up to the first picture for the old school look of the main room in the studio.)  This was my last day in the studio for work on the album.  There was a mixing session after this, so the official end date was in February, but I didn't need to head down for that.  Patrick's steady hand guided me through this process, as he has done so many times for so many other musicians.  He has a fantastic ability to hear the song behind my low-quality home demos.  I can tell him what I am trying to accomplish as far as the sound I hear in my head is concerned, and he can figure out how to get me there.  This gentleman is a multi-instrumentalist, great singer, and true professional.  

I hope you have enjoyed this brief photo journey through a year's worth of work.  There are plenty of behind-the-scenes photos that I haven't even seen.  I have 5 disposable cameras that came to the studio with me, and they are filled with photos.  If you are curious as to what might be on them, they are available as one of the rewards on my Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund pressing Anxious Inventions & Fictions to vinyl.  Why not head over to the campaign and help me press some vinyl?