THANKFUL FOR NEW MUSIC!

So here we are, Thanksgiving Eve…what are we thankful for? The obvious answers are family, friends, our pets, and life’s little whims.

My music is one of them 😉

Had rehearsal this morning as shown in the pictures above. Even the dumpster wanted in on the action. And you gotta enjoy a studio with a Ms. Pac-Man/Galaga machine. No we didn’t play any games but Mike and I played loud progressive funky metal for sure! The vibes are flowin’ and it feels great.

Now you might recall that I had a sixth song that we worked on two weeks ago. We skipped a week because Mike was recording a band. Which bought me time to rethink things. I was not happy with the sixth tune, so I asked Mike via email “Do you think I should drop it and re-write something?” To which he responded yes, so there you go.

I kept one part of the song, the 5/8 breakdown but changed it a little so there was more of a groove to it. The other parts are completely new, very reminiscent of Satriani’s early work (without even trying) as well as Steve Vai (well I admit I wanted to touch on that). How it came about though is an interesting story.

And since you didn’t ask…I’m gonna tell you anyway.

A clean intro fell out of my head and into my hands (yes I was holding the guitar at said juncture). Very spacey chordal work, and since I mentioned Satriani, it unintentionally came out like something from NOT OF THIS EARTH, his debut album. Then the song pretty much came alive. Sent the guitar demo to Mike. He said it was a better tune, and so today we jammed on it.

I tell you what, it’s a very straight-up tune but since I can’t write anything normal (you know, 5/8 stuff), I will still say it has a lot of commercial potential. And now to confuse you even further…

I had a title from a song we worked on that suddenly didn’t fit the music. It was the one that came out sounding like Rush-meets-5150 VH, so the title for that song is now the title of this sixth tune. And the original title for the new piece is now the title for the other one. Got all that?

This is how my mind works. Get used to it.

As of today, we have six songs. Possibly might work on a seventh one next week and then Mike is recording with another band the following week. Which leaves us one more rehearsal in December before Xmas Eve/New Years Eve. Can we get eight songs in by then? One never knows.

But wait…now how many songs are going on this damn album?!

Nine.

Eight as a full “band”, and one will be a solo clean guitar piece from something that was part of a long-ish song. Figured with all the metal and funky prog grooves being tossed around, why not end the album with something really chill? Jeff Loomis did it with his album ZERO ORDER PHASE so I will take a leaf out of his book there. The outro will most likely be 1-2 minutes long, tops.

That’s almost like Ramones length!

Now I am going to send this blog off for you all to read. And with that, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

Already?!