I first started playing around with the rhythm for “Whiskey Tango,” which I was calling “Just Walkin’,” back in January of 2018. I added to it slowly, over the two years that it was in my DAW’s queue, and only recently realized that it kinda sorta sounded like a tango.
I’d almost completely forgotten about “Tearing Linen” when I queued it up for a listen the other day. “Say, that’s not too bad,” I thought. “Just needs a bass line and a little polish.”
Off To War! / After Humanity both got their start as background music for a model build video. I always intended to further expand and complete the music and now I have.
“Punch the Clock” had the working title of “Chicken On A Leash” and, had I not just released another song with the word “chicken” in its title, that’s what it would have stayed. Oh, well. This short, simple instrumental tune is just as easily the soundtrack for someone working as it is someone walking … a chicken on a leash.
“Chasin’ Chickens” is my first “new” track of 2022. “New” with quotes because the song has been in my head and on my hard drive in various states of undress for quite some time.
With “Tinfoil!” I am proud to release my very first wrap song. I’d never really considered being a wrap artist before now, something’s just come over me …
The musical seed for “Merkin” was a failed introductory riff I tried on another, yet to be produced song. While the riff didn’t work out as originally intended, it was simple and blunt enough to be used elsewhere, thankfully.
“Erroneous Bosch” started out as noodling, grew into a theme, and then spent around 8 months in the “fiddly” stage. I even gave up on it for a while and woulda likely forgotten it had my wife not said: “that’s good, why aren’t you working on that?”
I sat down to record an acoustic track – with vocals no less – but wanted to warm up my fingers with some improv first. That’s when the rhythm to “Peace Bus” appeared.
No, “The Sand Bats of Manark IV” (3:27) is not a long lost ST:TOS episode but the next installment of my ongoing “CAE – Curiosities from the Attic” recording project.
The last few months have seen my return to music creation at the cost of much else in my life. I remain obsessed with regaining – and then hopefully surpassing – all past musical endeavors and, as such, have spent much time in pouring through the audio diary I’ve kept (more off than on these last five years) since 1991.
Thinking quite correctly that the better bits would be at the end rather than the beginning, I started transferring the most recent tapes to digital and sifting through the resulting tracks for nuggets with which to kick start the practice and aim of my renewed passion.
I fell in love with music very early on in life but, as with the visual arts, never really caught the bug to create any myself until well past said age.
In 1989, I began work as a security guard and there met Bruce Norton, an amateur blues guitarist. In casual conversation with him, I voiced the guitar-playing pipe-dream most young men of our culture have and he assured me that the dream could be realized. In short order, he sold me a guitar and showed me a few tips and tricks.
