I forgot what this was like -- prepping material so a band actually has something to rehearse (in time for the next rehearsal.) Of course I have more experience now than I did back in the day. That doesn't necessarily mean I know what I'm doing any more. But I'm certainly a better collaborator now I believe. That's probably because I'm more confident. Still -- I have no idea what I'm doing.
Well, maybe not "no idea". But I don't really know where the musical exploration with Tyrannosaurus Mouse will go. Originally my notion was to come at this from a late '60's progressive rock direction -- like we're a psychedelic band from Denmark in 1968.
But then I started to think about how I'd read somewhere that the album Fragile by Yes was created in the edit -- they build the songs out of pieces (however this wikipedia article implies that the record had been rehearsed, so I dunno.) So I figured I'd get a "band" together and we'd work out bits in rehearsal and then go record.
That may still yet be what we do. In the meantime I'm putting together some pieces and bits of things -- maybe a little "flower pop", some "big riffs", and other musical ideas and notions I've been working on -- and a couple old songs which I feel need a second chance. I'm going to list them songs so I's don't fergits:
Jabberwocky
October River (?)
Now if you're me, and I am, you'll note that there is significant representation here from the Prague Spring album October River. That's our hardest "rock" record. I was going to say that album is my least popular, but knowing that my total album sales are something under 100, the statistical sampling between my most popular record and least popular is not terribly significant. I've never had a record chart on the CMJ "hot 100" or whatever they call it. But not even my friends listen to October River.
*************
My friend Dave, who used to be with the band October Project (no relation) pointed out an interesting problem with the Prague Spring "sound" in that we essentially had two lead singers -- and you didn't know who to listen to. I, of course, with my insanely anti-commercial sense of reality, just thought that was a cool part of our sound. Now I don't really think so. I think dual leads made us sound less focussed.
That won't be a problem with Tyrannosaurus Mouse. If we get a soprano I just won't sing when she sings -- not at all. It'll be more like... Rammstein that way.
*************
Listening to the October River album made me a little sad: there are a number of solos on piano by my friend Raphael Rudd who died in 2002.
No comments:
Post a Comment