Solenoid is the newest of all the songs on the album. I believe it to be inspired by a friend's rather nasty break up, though maybe just a residual vibe, as there is another tune that comes later on the album that is definitely inspired by said events.
That being said, I have put a starter in every truck I've owned, except the most recent one.
I'm sure it's coming. It is inevitable .
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Old Man And The Me
Amazingly, this one is not about my father...
It's about a guy slowly realizing that waiting for unrequited love is a bad idea and that investing time in doing and being what one wants to be is a good idea. In this case he decides to head out to sea.
Special thanks to Josh Foeller for the line "You can teach a man to sail, but you can't teach him why." I guess it is an old family saying, but I would not know it if it were not for him.
It's about a guy slowly realizing that waiting for unrequited love is a bad idea and that investing time in doing and being what one wants to be is a good idea. In this case he decides to head out to sea.
Special thanks to Josh Foeller for the line "You can teach a man to sail, but you can't teach him why." I guess it is an old family saying, but I would not know it if it were not for him.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Satanic Mechanic
Satanic Mechanic started many years ago as an attempt by a colleague and I to write a modern day blues tune, one about selling your soul to the devil. We were brainstorming and thought that maybe these days the devil drove a big black sport utility vehicle instead of a big black Cadillac. The original lyrics went "I know he's coming, he's coming for me rolling along in that SUV. He should be driving a Cadillac. It ain't that long, but it sure is black." A version with these lyrics will be available on the extras DVD that comes with the deluxe version of the album.
The lines "Don't want to die. Don't want to die alone. Don't want to lay in the garden of stone. That's why I call you on the phone, cell phone towers, they guide me home." is an homage to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album on which two tunes make reference to towers guiding him home. One being the refinery towers and one being radio towers.
I'd like to think that this song has an overarching Nebraska feel to it. I think of it as about a good man forced to make a hard decision and now he has to pay for it or die running from it.
The lines "Don't want to die. Don't want to die alone. Don't want to lay in the garden of stone. That's why I call you on the phone, cell phone towers, they guide me home." is an homage to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album on which two tunes make reference to towers guiding him home. One being the refinery towers and one being radio towers.
I'd like to think that this song has an overarching Nebraska feel to it. I think of it as about a good man forced to make a hard decision and now he has to pay for it or die running from it.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Coelacanth .... the song
Today I start posting about a song everyday. Today we'll take a look at the lead off track - "Coelacanth"
Dreamed I was an ancient fish swimming in the sea.
Nothing ever changes here, nothing except me.
One day soon I know that they will come looking for me saying
everything's been changing here, everything but me.
This is it, the crux of the album. I wrote it quickly on a hot summer night and I recorded it on my phone to make sure I wouldn't forget it. I recorded the song multiple times afterward and for a long time none of them lived up to the original. The original will appear on the DVD of the special edition.
I have always hated songs that are about the hard life of rock stardom. In line with that I must state that I love Joe Walsh's Life's Been Good To Me So Far. I liken the song Coelacanthto the lines "It's tough to handle all this fortune and fame. Everybody's so different. I haven't changed."
This song, and this album, is all about change, a change I need to make, but in order to do so I need to let go of a lot of pain, and a lot of baggage, and start the slow process of becoming a better, more open, well-rounded person.
Dreamed I was an ancient fish swimming in the sea.
Nothing ever changes here, nothing except me.
One day soon I know that they will come looking for me saying
everything's been changing here, everything but me.
This is it, the crux of the album. I wrote it quickly on a hot summer night and I recorded it on my phone to make sure I wouldn't forget it. I recorded the song multiple times afterward and for a long time none of them lived up to the original. The original will appear on the DVD of the special edition.
I have always hated songs that are about the hard life of rock stardom. In line with that I must state that I love Joe Walsh's Life's Been Good To Me So Far. I liken the song Coelacanthto the lines "It's tough to handle all this fortune and fame. Everybody's so different. I haven't changed."
This song, and this album, is all about change, a change I need to make, but in order to do so I need to let go of a lot of pain, and a lot of baggage, and start the slow process of becoming a better, more open, well-rounded person.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Regular and Deluxe Editions
Coelacanth will be available in two different versions, standard and deluxe.
The standard version will come with the full 10 song album. It will cost $5.
The deluxe version will come with the full album and a dvd containing a video for all 10 songs as well as some alternative takes and demos from the recording process. The deluxe version will be available for $10
You can pick up either copy at the Coelacanth Release Party, Feb 18th at The New Dodge Lounge!
The standard version will come with the full 10 song album. It will cost $5.
The deluxe version will come with the full album and a dvd containing a video for all 10 songs as well as some alternative takes and demos from the recording process. The deluxe version will be available for $10
You can pick up either copy at the Coelacanth Release Party, Feb 18th at The New Dodge Lounge!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
My first encounter with a Coelacanth
Sometime in 2010 I was in a biology for dummies class titled 'Life On Earth' to get gen ed credit towards my music degree. The class mostly consisted of watching the David Attenbourough series of the same title. The class was run by a scrawny asshole full of dry, biting humor. I loved the class.
The material for the class was presented as the timeline of life on earth, from the first proteins and amino acids up through modern day. One day we were talking about the evolution of fish and how they worked their way out of the water. Let's take a moment to talk about these fish. There are two kinds of fins that can be found on fish, ray fins, and lobe fins. Unless you've seen a Coelacanth you have never seen a lobe finned fish. Why is this important? Well, lobe fin fish have four lobe fins, two up front and two in back, ...and the bone structure shows five tarsals inside the fin.
Ever notice how all animals with fingers and toes have five of them? That's because it was a lobe finned fish that first came out of the water and survived. There are plenty of these fish in the fossil record, but we thought they had been extinct.
That is until 1938 when they were found off the shore of South Africa. The ancient fish lives. It has changed a bit. The one found was a new species, and another species has since been discovered.
Coelacanths live in dark, cold water at high pressure depths. They are about six feet long and weigh about 180 pounds. They reach sexual maturity somewhere between 20 and 25 years, and they live to be somewhere between eighty and a hundred years old. They've lived for millions of years, forgotten and abandoned in the dark while the world changed. Now roughly one Coelacanth's lifetime has passed since they've been discovered. Are they perfect for not needed to have changed or are they doomed to die off slowly for all the change that has happened around them?
The material for the class was presented as the timeline of life on earth, from the first proteins and amino acids up through modern day. One day we were talking about the evolution of fish and how they worked their way out of the water. Let's take a moment to talk about these fish. There are two kinds of fins that can be found on fish, ray fins, and lobe fins. Unless you've seen a Coelacanth you have never seen a lobe finned fish. Why is this important? Well, lobe fin fish have four lobe fins, two up front and two in back, ...and the bone structure shows five tarsals inside the fin.
Ever notice how all animals with fingers and toes have five of them? That's because it was a lobe finned fish that first came out of the water and survived. There are plenty of these fish in the fossil record, but we thought they had been extinct.
That is until 1938 when they were found off the shore of South Africa. The ancient fish lives. It has changed a bit. The one found was a new species, and another species has since been discovered.
Coelacanths live in dark, cold water at high pressure depths. They are about six feet long and weigh about 180 pounds. They reach sexual maturity somewhere between 20 and 25 years, and they live to be somewhere between eighty and a hundred years old. They've lived for millions of years, forgotten and abandoned in the dark while the world changed. Now roughly one Coelacanth's lifetime has passed since they've been discovered. Are they perfect for not needed to have changed or are they doomed to die off slowly for all the change that has happened around them?
Friday, February 3, 2012
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