Even though I effectively made a prog album in 2011, it wasn't until 2012 that I specifically set out to make one. I had already done 'Jazzadelic' in 2010, an exploration of alternate jazz stylings that often spilled into prog, and 'Blues Askew' in 2011, the first of five blues albums, both specific genre pieces. The other 2011 album, 'Porno Sound Track', was all the instrumental material from those same sessions, and it was nearly all straight prog or fusion. There was a third album that was mostly pop and rock, so it was easy to segregate songs.
By now I realized that it was prog, not jazz, that was my happy place when doing instrumentals. I considered myself an instrumentalist who only sang because the human voice is the most important instrument and I had the only voice available. In fact, in 2011 I only wrote two lyrics, and one of them was simply borrowing blues phrases. When doing instrumentals, I could be experimental, try things out, see where tangents led.
2012 was a very busy year; the recording sessions started earlier than the usual hot summer stay-out0of-the-heat period. In fact, I was going through the hundred-plus folders and thousands of files, doing an initial inventory of my material, finding abandoned songs. Listening to your failures can tell you more about your thought process than the successes; this is where ambition exceeded skill. In fact, two albums related to old recording emerged first.
'Sonic Debris' was initially eighteen tracks that had been abandoned or forgotten during recording sessions, going all the way back to 2006. By nature it was a mixed bag, but there was a good deal of material that fell into the prog/psych/fusion category, as well as some strange experimental stuff even beyond that. My habit was to record extra songs and pick only the best ones, sometimes coming back the next year to finish something, sometimes not putting the effort into a failed piece.
'Retreads' were a group of songs that I redid, in part or usually from scratch, atoning for past sonic sins. The initial idea was to just replace a bad part, nearly always the drumming from my earliest attempts, but it quickly evolved into changing the entire approach, beat, and tone of a piece. This project worked very well, starting a tread in retreads that continued until 2016. Some of the leftover songs were retreaded and found a place on the other two albums from 2012, 'Zaftig' and 'A Mess of Blues'.
I was still trying to stretch boundaries more than define them back then, so even 'A Mess of Blues' had a piece like 'Raging Sevens', a blues in 7/4 time that strays into some very heavy territory. It took a few tries before I could approach the blues straight on, not hiding behind a hybrid version. Much of the reason was lack in trust in my voice; was it strong enough an instrument to really testify? I did eventually get there, but it was initially a struggle.
'Zaftig' was pure prog, even if I was throwing in Latin or jazz influences. That was the beauty of progressive music; it was by definition an open invitation to add new ingredients to the mix, not a list of ingredients that had to be included. The song 'Zaftig' above was an experiment in creating a duet between heavy atonal guitar and drums, inspired by the King Crimson song 'Groon'. Each instrument gets a chance to wail before the entire thing joins forces to make a big finale. The song was a statement about the entire album, pushing all boundaries in the hope of creating magical moments.
'Tres Rios', above, was structured to be sections that interlock together, creating a series of crescendos. My drumming is noticeably better here. Ironically, by spending all the time on fixing outtakes and doing retreads, my percussion skills soared in 2012, the year I gained competency as a drummer. The arrangement is also more sophisticated, letting instruments and sections play out, not being in a hurry to force the piece. I'm really starting to find my footing, gaining confidence as my skill set expands. That's what progressive music is supposed to be about.
'Snoopy Takes a Trip' shows not only increased drum skills, but a confidence in my piano playing. Before 2012, I rarely spot lighted my keyboard skills. I am primarily a guitarist and very aware of the fact. But again, through working on so many older songs, I could create newer pieces that ventured into untried territory. One person mentioned that this song sounds like a psychedelic Dave Brubeck. No higher compliment could be applied.
'Naked' is indeed a very simple and relaxed piece, no studio trickery to hide behind, and nervy of me to try and pull off something with so much piano. In fact, the piece was written on guitar and intended to be yet another showpiece for that instrument, but I laid a piano track down and liked it so much that I restructured everything. Now the arrangement is all about interplay between three instruments, taking the listener to a very quiet space, ending the 'Zaftig' album peacefully. This was a big step forward.
After all the productivity of the 2012 sessions, rescuing older work while focusing on new areas of exploration, 2013 was pure high stress. In fact, the projects that year were done mainly as an outlet to the impossible deadlines that I was given at work. I did manage 30 new songs, another new blues album and yet again a prog album called 'Tracks'. On the blues album, every song was a vocal, the first time that I had ever managed that feat. As a result, it didn't veer into prog territory, although it did have touches of jazz and even bluegrass.
'Nesta Siesta' continues the trends from the previous year; the song takes its time making a statement. Each instrument adds to the whole; it is less about the solo and more about the mood of the piece. Even the music video is relaxed and pastoral, willing to wait for the payoff. There is no rush to show off, no need to prove myself a great musician, only a desire to make good sounds that build up and then cool off at the end.
'For Doc' shows that I can going acoustic and still be progressive. It is a catchy piece, all the footage is from the North Carolina mountains, including street scenes of Asheville. The song was a flat-out tribute to the great Doc Watson, a man that I had the great pleasure to eat dinner with once; he schooled me on the history of race in roots music, but in the nicest way completely, reversing all my ill-informed notions. He was a hell of a nice guy and a tremendous performer.
The song itself has received about as much positive feedback as anything I've ever done, largely because it seems to be old-time traditional music. It is not, dependent completely on a drone 'G' string, the Indian percussion (no bass needed) adding to the exotic feel. It feels comfortable, but is experimental at the same time, and I worked on this piece for a long time. Increased skills in engineering meant that the acoustic guitar had a powerful feel. Recording with a microphone in a spare bedroom, getting a decent ambient sound, is no easy feat.
'The Rabbit Hole' was originally on 'Tracks' but moved to another album, 'Remains' when I reduced the number of songs per album to 11 from the previous 13. It is a deceptively complex song, adding layers upon layers of overdubs over the course of the playing time. I don't often indulge in overdubs, preferring a naked sound with one take performances. This song was progressive in concept as much as in execution, as are many songs. Find an idea, then find a way to make it happen.
2014 was a completely different year that still defies explanation. I ended the previous year exhausted and angry; my job had become political to the point where I sometimes doubted the ethics involved. In retrospect, I must have taken all my frustrations out by recording a record sixty songs that year, destroying my drum kit in the process. By the end, the poor electronic thing was held together with duct tape, and I never could get it fixed.
The very process of recording was challenged from the very beginning, when I decided to go back and try things that I hadn't done in years, such as using old unused drum loops that I had uncovered. There were outtakes from the previous year that were extensively reworked like 'Rastas in Space' below. That song turned out particularly well, an exploration into areas that hadn't been visited, combining space rock and reggae. Even the video, using footage from a couple of Italian movies released a decade apart, turned out extremely well.
'Rasta in Space' was from 'X the Unknown', my purely progressive album that year. There were four other albums released, and they all touched on prog, although they were other genres. There was no blues album after three straight years; it was simply getting too easy and I needed a bigger challenge. The progressive album included something as aggressive as 'Twistoid' below, flirting with heavy metal, yet still in a strange time signature, using burbling keyboards as a texture.
Even the video was aggressive, using the most action oriented elements of a number of foreign movies layered on top of each other. This is another of those weird songs not necessarily in a one key, more about instruments playing against each other in different keys. 'JB Crown Royal' below uses funk elements with some over-the-top piano turn-arounds to create a new hybrid. The video itself is a deep dive into multiple images layered hypnotically over each other.
There were a lot of retreads, songs dating back to 2006, redone in a completely different fashion now that I could steer the music where I wanted it to go. 'Bango Tango', when first done on 'Soundscrapes', was actually one of the most ambitious tracks, but it was stiff, forced to match a beat that was too fast. Done in 2014, it comes off as creeping into focus, starting slowly, building with great textures and tones. This version makes the first try obsolete.
Even when doing my first explicitly straight-ahead rock album, prog snuck in on the only so-called blues. "Mobius Blues' is a twelve bar, but it is based completely on tritones, giving it a uniformed dissonance. It eventually becomes a screaming showcase for some out-there guitar soloing. The foundation was a concept, and now I could execute such notions.
Another album, 'Whole Lotta Buddha' was dedicated to songs with lyrics, both originals and covers. One ballad that I wrote, 'Face of Another', seems to be a jazz song, but it has a strange set of lyrics, and the melody goes in odd places. The video matches the words, not literally but in tone. By now, I could go into progressive mode in a meta way, incorporating conception, execution, and presentation as one complete package.
Even the outtakes album, really all the songs that couldn't be sequenced into the other four, had a great deal of prog, including something of such high quality as 'Percy'. I'm managing to make the organ sound like a synth, and the bass is aggressive enough to take the place of any guitar. With this crazy visual piece, I will leave you at a moment where my creativity was so white hot that I had to take a break, fearing that my hobby was becoming too much of an obsession. The next steps, to be covered in the last installment, may surprise you.
No comments:
Post a Comment