Tim Larson and Eric Polcyn A few years back I did a Kickstarter for a new Thanatos LP, Coyote in the Graveyard. My idea was, in part, that I would be inspired to work on new material if I did that; it worked up to a point.
BUT, for the first time in my life, the first group of songs I recorded? I just didn't think they were worth releasing (to prove this I briefly put two mediocre tunes up on Bandcamp.....they have now been assigned to the garbage heap of history). It wasn't the recordings or the performances. They just were not good songs. No matter how you record a bad song? It remains a bad song.
Not all the songs recorded up to that point were BAD. We did get one good song out of that session and one before. Two songs, however, isn't much of an LP. Part of the problem maybe was my boxing myself in with a "positive vibe" theme. I confess that my idea of what is cheerful differs from most people. I think the movie The Seventh Seal is cheerful for instance (the Knight saves the family for fuck's sake...AND everyone else who dies wants to die or is a jerk).
My idea was to be uplifting in a broader sense which is, perhaps, not what I do best.
In any case in recent times we've slowly but surely started moving in the direction of producing solid music (in my opinion anyway). Today, as I post this, we brought in Thanatos bassist, Eric Polcyn, to lay down bass on a cover and a new song that has been lurking around in my head. As usual in recent years Tim Larson was the one doing the recording.
Part of my recent realizations is that, instead of getting more complicated in the foundation of my songs--which as usual is the acoustic guitar--I decided to get simpler and to add complexity later. I had an art teacher who told the class to "squint your eyes" at what you were painting and therein see the background color that you laid down first. That is sort of what we are doing.
I am very conscious of trying to avoid slick here too...This isn't always easy in our digital world. More on this soon for people who care to read! You can check out two current songs--the title track and The Night Visitor on our Bandcamp page. These are not final mixes.
BUT, for the first time in my life, the first group of songs I recorded? I just didn't think they were worth releasing (to prove this I briefly put two mediocre tunes up on Bandcamp.....they have now been assigned to the garbage heap of history). It wasn't the recordings or the performances. They just were not good songs. No matter how you record a bad song? It remains a bad song.
Not all the songs recorded up to that point were BAD. We did get one good song out of that session and one before. Two songs, however, isn't much of an LP. Part of the problem maybe was my boxing myself in with a "positive vibe" theme. I confess that my idea of what is cheerful differs from most people. I think the movie The Seventh Seal is cheerful for instance (the Knight saves the family for fuck's sake...AND everyone else who dies wants to die or is a jerk).
My idea was to be uplifting in a broader sense which is, perhaps, not what I do best.
In any case in recent times we've slowly but surely started moving in the direction of producing solid music (in my opinion anyway). Today, as I post this, we brought in Thanatos bassist, Eric Polcyn, to lay down bass on a cover and a new song that has been lurking around in my head. As usual in recent years Tim Larson was the one doing the recording.
Part of my recent realizations is that, instead of getting more complicated in the foundation of my songs--which as usual is the acoustic guitar--I decided to get simpler and to add complexity later. I had an art teacher who told the class to "squint your eyes" at what you were painting and therein see the background color that you laid down first. That is sort of what we are doing.
I am very conscious of trying to avoid slick here too...This isn't always easy in our digital world. More on this soon for people who care to read! You can check out two current songs--the title track and The Night Visitor on our Bandcamp page. These are not final mixes.
A bloody mary from Haymarket Pub & Brewery....inspiration....
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