The Live Debate is still hard at work putting the finishing touches on the rest of the album. If you havent gotten the chance to check out the 3 song demo on our previous post, take a listen now and tell us what you think (Click me to hear music). We plan to have the next 3 songs finished within the week and we will share them with you as soon as they are done. Here is a live video for "3 Strangers" that we recently shot and we hope that you will enjoy it.
Also if you live near Chicago you should check out The Nutcracker at The Chopin Theatre, this is Matthews second year playing piano in this production. The show runs until Christmas Eve!
Hello Blog, family, and friends! Nice to see you again. We missed you guys. Don't worry. We come bearing the gift of new music to listen to:
Sorry we've been so distant lately, dear Blog. There has been a lot going on. Since we last spoke, our vocalist Anthony moved here to Chicago, we've tracked drums with our dear friend Jonah David, tracked piano at the loveliest and most welcoming little church on the Northside, tracked a big ol' pile of vocals in Tony Berg's living room, and did all this while holding down reasonably challenging day jobs.
When I haven't been working on the album, I've been teaching like crazy. Need piano lessons?
Jody, when he isn't busy being the Buddha of this band, has been putting in hours helping set up the new and improved Bass Club Chicago in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.
Anthony has been acting his ass off - he's been an extra in the late "Playboy Club," and is starring as Frank in a new production of "The Rocky Horror Show" which opened LAST NIGHT at the Underground Lounge. Go. See. Him.
Tony has been learning to sail on Lake Michigan, growing huge amounts of jalapenos and okra, and has been working like a fiend on our album. Even more than he used to since we're beginning the mix process.
Since we're getting to the end of this thing, we thought it was about time we let you guys get a taste of it. These three songs are among the "early finishers" on the album, which is to say, they're the closest to being done. All of the songs are nearly finished now, but these few tunes have been there the longest. The next time you'll be hearing these songs they'll have another layer of gloss or two before the final album release, and you'll likely be able to download them and show them off to your friends in the schoolyard.
We're proud of these tunes. They're the result of a lot of hard work from a lot of really talented people. We're lucky and thankful for every member of The Live Debate Orchestra and the many folks who helped these songs come to life. As many of you know, this album has been a lengthy project, but we're pleased to say that we're rounding the home stretch. Stay tuned!
This is Jody. As I type, Matthew is working on a full orchestra composition for the album. Its a beautiful epic song with a bit of a controversial title, "American Terrorists." Once its done, it will melt faces. Matthew considers it to be his Magnum Opus! Its nice to hear this song come to life in the studio because we have had some what of a rough relationship with this track in particular during the writing process. I cant wait to post it to get some feedback. Im hoping to have something up by the end of the week. Im sure you'll love it...
We have been getting a lot of great feedback aboutThree Strangers, which we posted last week. I want to thank everyone for their input and encourage you to continue to do so. At this point, all the songs for the album have been tracked into our studio and are at varying degrees of being finished (As shown below with our very organized colored folders). Here is a screenshot of what will be the track listings on our album, which is listed under Operation Codename: Shopping for Shotguns:
Matthew and I have been juggling different tasks in hopes of meeting a couple of large goals that we have set for ourselves. We are on track to have the album finished and close-to-release by the end of the year. We are planning on tracking all of our live horns, strings, and brass in the second half of October and shortly after we plan to have vocal specialist Anthony D'Amato come back out and lay down some sweet melodies for us and I cant wait. In the mean time, we will continue to post our progress on this blog and we love the support and critiques.
This tune is called "Three Strangers." It's the rough cut. The album version will feature live strings and a few more fresh coats of paint. Comments, ideas, and critiques are not just welcome, but really useful. Please keep 'em coming.
You will also notice the lush vocal stylings of Mr. Anthony D'Amato on this track. Anthony is considering moving here to Chicago some time between now and January. He has no idea, but his move is already a done deal. My tazer and chloroform just arrived in the mail.
Here also is a fresh mix of "The Fisher King."
I have always been fascinated by ancient mythology, since childhood. The Greek Gods were an early fave, like I think they still are for kids. One of my piano students dressed as Athena for Halloween last year, after all. But I enjoyed the Norse, Egyptian, Celtic, and African tales quite a bit too. They made an early impression.
So now I write music that is tinged with the religious, or at least, the mythic. This song is about the swift, unyielding passage of time, directly written as a complaint to the goddesses that govern it. Time goddesses are pretty common, even in cultures separated by a lot of space. In Greece, these were the Moirae; in Rome, the Parcae; Japan has a mother-maiden-crone equivalent; as does Norse mythology, the Norns. There are more. All of these civilizations represented time as three women, usually as future, present, and past. They are often depicted smiling, but equally often described as cruel.
In the past year or two, my life has changed dramatically. I've moved in with my true-love boyfriend, I grew a beard, left boystown; I have a shiny new home studio and a new band to use it for, I am jobless and searching in a very uncertain economy, yet I'm more certain than ever that music is my destiny. As much as I love my life and love what it (and I) have become, time moves mercilessly quick, changing my shape, my emotions, my work, my friendships, my flesh. Perhaps I won't be happy forever. It feels out of my control when I consider it, even though I never felt out of control any step along the way.
Do you ever look in the mirror, see the skull behind your face, and suddenly glimpse a person you've never seen before? Perhaps a spectre you'll look like at sixty, or a ghost of what you looked like at six? Or what you would look like if you had chosen everything differently? Did you ever have a choice? Is the person looking back at you from the mirror the person you were always meant to be? Or is the person looking back just a passing stranger, someone you will only be for an instant before the goddesses of Time put all your cards back in the deck and shuffle you up?
Do you ever look in the mirror and feel like a stranger to yourself?
