DIDN’T EXPECT THIS? (NEITHER DID I!)

What happens when you pick up a 7-string guitar, drop the low B to low A on a whim, and a bunch of chords come out?

You record it before the feeling goes away.

That’s exactly what happened to me this morning (July 3, which also happens to be my son Julian’s 24th birthday!) You will be seeing this blog on Friday because that’s when the new unexpected single “It Hurts To Laugh” will be released.

But what about a metal album, Steve?

I have the tunes, just need the money to make it happen.

My mood has been much improved over the past few months. When I wrote other ambient songs in the past, my energy was a bit low but still found inspiration here and there. Today I felt like trying something a bit different, just for fun. As a result, this piece flew out of my hands and onto the guitar.

Upon mixing it, I decided to take the same exact track, flip it backwards and speed it up so it would mess with your eardrums. This will work best wearing headphones/earbuds. Why do anything normal, right?

The title came from a Stephen Bishop song (work with me here) in which there’s this lyric: “It hurts too much to laugh these days.” So I truncated it to “It Hurts To Laugh” and without realizing it, the backwards guitar sounds like laughter a bit. Or maybe my coffee is just too damn powerful.

Upon listening to the final mix, I thought “This sounds like Mahavishnu Orchestra meets 10cc.” You might be thinking HUH?! But listen closely…you’ll get it. The forward guitar arpeggios sounded like “Birds Of Fire” without even trying. Just felt natural to play the chord progressions in a fingerpicked style. And of course, for you geeks out there, it goes 5/8, 5/8, 7/8, and 5/8. The backwards guitar was treated with a lot of reverb and ping pong delay, which reminded me of the choral sounds in “I’m Not In Love”. No joke, I love that song!

You’re scratching your head now.

I can tell.

The tune will be streaming on most platforms and can be purchased on my Bandcamp page.

And I promise, a heavy album is coming…not sure when.