Sometimes Things Just Happen... really!!

So we're releasing our latest CD Sometimes Things Just Happen on January 7th and I wanted to share a little bit about the process of making the CD.

As I said in my previous Blog, the music for all of the songs on the CD was already recorded.  That's not exactly true.  When they joined the band, Brian and Steve did re-record their tracks to what was already done (more on this process in my next Blog), but they also contributed 4 important songs to the CD.  

Brian had an instrumental piece that we ended up splitting into 2 songs- Bash it Up and World without End.  When I heard the riff that the first part progressed into, the melody and lyrics came to me instantly.  It was one of those magic moments we as musicians truly hope for.  I learned the parts he had and wrote the lyrics and melody around them and it became Bash it Up.

Steve sent me his demo version of Revolutions when he was auditioning for the band.  After we decided he was exactly who we'd been looking for and welcomed him into our family, I felt it only fair that since he had to learn all of our material, we should work something of his up.  So I took the song, reworked the guitar parts to fit more like how I play, added the middle section, then Steve and I tailored up the lyrics and worked it up with the rest of the guys.

One night Brian came over to work in the studio but we had finished all of his tracks and really didn't have anything to record.  So Brian had this piece he'd just come up with that he showed me so we decided to record it right there on the spot for the hell of it.  Brian put the Bass down to a click first, then I basically reacted to it free form with the guitars.  Brian then added another Bass part, and I added percussion.  Brian then had the idea of me adding a track of feedback to it.  I had to be close to my amp to get the guitar to feed back but didn't have a headphone cable long enough to reach, so I recorded it "blindly" without listening to the music.  When the song ended, Brian was laughing because it came out perfect!!!  It was the absolute most free, expressive, and unstructured recording experience I'd ever had in my life.  He called it 119 (I think because of the time on the clock).

I also brought a new song tentatively called Something We Should Save to the band.  Brian had a piece of music for the middle section that fit the vibe of the song perfectly.  We (thankfully!) renamed it Nothing to Say and demoed it off along with the other songs I mentioned- fully intending on having them be candidates for the Lost in the "Everyday" CD.  But the demo versions came out great and it just felt right putting them (except World Without End- more on that later) on the Sometimes Things Just Happen CD.

So, yeah.  Whether good or bad, sometimes things really do just happen.  In this case, they were all good.

Frank