Tagged: Music

May 27, 2010

Every Song Tells A Story: Mall Girl

The Story

“Mall Girl” has a long history. It was written in 1994 when I was a spry twenty-four year old. At that point, I had already been working in retail, usually in malls, for a number of years. I mainly worked in record stores or music stores. I was still single and in a band called “The Automatics”. It was a fun era that seems so distant now.

Friends always ask me if there was a real “Mall Girl” and the answer is yes. This song was written about a girl who worked in the same mall I was working in (Garden State Plaza – Paramus, NJ), upstairs at one of those clothing stores like The Limited. I don’t remember too much about her other than the fact that she was blonde and her eyes had a yellowish tint to them. She was friendly and pretty. I was a little intimidated for whatever reason. She was a regular customer for a while and I’d see her a few times a week usually. Her name was Doris. I thought that was pretty cool.

At some point I alluded to going out for a date and she agreed. We had one date. We saw a really bad film called Threesome. It had a Baldwin brother in it. It was awful. She liked it. I found out later that she was actually nineteen so I guess that makes sense. In any case, she didn’t seem too interested in following up so I let it go but for some reason the whole affair stuck in my head and one creative day, I sat and wrote this song about the whole thing – which really wasn’t that big of a thing but it was enough for a song, right?

The song was important for me because while I had been in bands before and had written things here and there, this song marked the first time I had done everything myself. I wrote it and recorded it alone, all in one day. I had just gotten a Yamaha 4-track recorder. I wrote down the lyrics, miked up the drums and played the song through based on what I felt the structure would be. From there, I added the rest of the instruments and voices. I used this funky Fender Fuzz/Wah pedal and the song came out quite well for a demo.

I played it for the guys in my band and we instantly added it to the set list. The song went over well and we played it until the band split. After that, I played a bluesy acoustic version (which I’ll record one day) for a bit but the song was put aside when I put music aside for a number of years, along with a few other songs.

I recorded it again in my friend Brian’s basement one time along with another song when I thought I’d make a real record of my own. The demos were finished but the album never made it past those two songs. The other song we recorded down there was “One Step Closer”.

One thing I don’t like to do is throw songs away or disregard them. If I’ve put the time and energy into writing and/or recording a song, I want to keep it around. So when it came time to start writing music again and think about putting out a full album of original material, I thought back to songs like “Mall Girl” and thought it might be time to finally put them out there as part of a record.

As far as the lyrics go, I was just out to have fun. I wanted it to be funny but still tell a story of a guy who likes this girl who prances around the mall like she owns it (“…high class manager flair”). Many of the lines are honest. The whole upstairs/downstairs thing is true. She was upstairs selling clothes while I was downstairs selling music. She did have these big round eyes. I used to say hi to her every time when she passed by to open the store or whatever. So it’s authentic, in a way, but generic enough to be enjoyable to most people.

The song was always fun for me and I have fond memories of writing it and playing it live with the old band and at some acoustic gigs. People seemed to like it, probably because it gave them a chuckle, and that makes it worth keeping around.

The Recording

While I was in the middle of recording some other songs for what would become the album I eventually called Damaged Goods, I found myself thinking about “Mall Girl” again. I had already recorded it a few times and remembered the main parts so I figured I’d re-record it one more time and see what happened. The old demos weren’t bad but they were final mixes and the quality was a bit low.

When I record live drums, I usually make sure I have at least two songs to play. Another older song, “One Step Closer” was also waiting in the wings, so I put those two on the list and recorded the drum tracks on the same day.

After drums, I usually lay down a bass track so I can have a full rhythm section to play along with. Again, I was able to lay that track down in a short amount of time. The song just came right back to me, not that it’s anything all that complicated.

With those tracks in the can, I moved on to guitar. This is where things got a little hairy. I play a Fender Telecaster, which can sometimes be noisy. For the older demos, I used the aforementioned huge, vintage Fender Fuzz/Wah pedal to create a certain effect without which the song would lose much of its flavor. This thing is also a noisy beast but so much fun. I plan on using it live, if I can.

All that noise on multiple tracks made for a noisy recording. To be honest, though, one of the things I enjoy about the song (and the original demo) is that it’s noisy and boisterous. So, the fact that there was all this noise all over the tracks was something I could easily overlook. It did make mixing the thing a little hairy, however.

After laying down the main guitar parts, I added a solo track, piece by piece, until I had something I was happy with. I’m not very good at lead guitar so I usually have to record solos a phrase at a time, unless I get lucky.

I didn’t go all out on the vocals this time. I did three part harmonies on some bits for the old demos but stuck to two this time. I’m not sure why, really. Sometimes the song just says, “Hey, don’t need it.” Perhaps live, I’ll do something else. The songs are going to sound a little different live, I’m sure.

I’ll admit, I was a little impatient with mixing the song at first. It’s a simple song so it shouldn’t be difficult, right? I still hadn’t gotten a handle on compression and things like that, so I was having trouble getting the drums to stand out. They sounded buried. I resorted to EQ for a lot of these issues and as a result, the first mix of the song that I released sounded a bit washed out and way too bright. I released it anyhow, just so I could move on to other songs and keep the forward momentum going.

Move on, I did. Still, every time I happened to hear the track it always bothered me. So recently, I revisited the mix, stripped off a lot of the EQ and effects, and played with the compression some more, bringing things out and pushing things back. By this time, I had had a little more practice and played around with the settings. I felt a little more confident. The resulting mix was a definite improvement and I replaced the old mix with the new mix everywhere I could. Because of all the noise and stuff, however, it’s still not the best mix in the world, but it works for me. At least it won’t make me cringe anymore.

Looking back, it was always a fun song to play live, but I was usually on drums or playing the acoustic version. I’m really looking forward to playing this song live, fuzz/wah and all. I hope people still get a kick out of it.

The Lyrics

Now when I’m downstairs at my store I wait for her to pass my door
Cuz she’s the one that lights up my day
She’s got big round yellow eyes, her hair is blonde, need I say more?
I’m always her first stop of the day

Mall Girl strutting down the aisle with her high class manager flair
Mall Girl oooh she flash a smile, make my heart and soul beware

She’s too cool for conversation, fills me with elation every day
when she opens her store
Upstairs she sells the clothes, body suits and panty hose
She got everything you need and more more more, cuz she’s my…

Mall Girl strutting down the aisle with her high class manager flair
Mall Girl, oooh she flash a smile, make my heart and soul beware

Hey baby what do you say me and you go down to the food court and uh…get some food?

I’m happy that I’m there in that record store downstairs
Cuz she buys all her music from me
She never is defensive and though the music is expensive
She knows that my love is free – yea!

Mall Girl strutting down the aisle with her high class manager flair
Mall Girl, oooh she flash a smile, make my heart and soul beware – yea!

Mall Girl – Mall Girl – Mall Girl – Mall Girl…

Lou's News / Music

May 8, 2010

Damaged Goods

I’ve been quite busy the past year writing, recording, re-recording, compiling, plotting, scheming, planning, and you get the idea.

I think that 14 songs seems like a good enough amount for a formal release. Why 14? No idea. It just seems like a good number to me. I already have more songs in the works that will probably end up on the second release unless I decide to squeeze some more onto this one. I’m enjoying the number 14 though. Paul Westerberg’s first official solo record (if you don’t count the Replacements’ All Shook Down as a Paul record) was called 14 Songs. So why not. There must be some good karma there someplace.

Anyhow, the name of the record will be Damaged Goods. I could probably come up with some wacky story about why I’m calling it that, but that story would be totally untrue. Here’s the true story, if you’re interested.

In the past year when I started writing and recording this batch of original tunes, I had to decide if I was going to wait and not release anything until the end or release the songs a few at a time. I decided to release the songs a few at a time as “singles” and then when I felt it was time to call it a record and start playing some gigs, I’d compile them all into one package. So here I am at that point, but I needed an album cover and a name. So I started messing around in Photoshop; trying out some different background textures. I came across this one that looked like cardboard but with a glue blotch or something on it. It caught my eye and I used it. I was just going to use it for the background but then as I was playing with the color, I thought the image looked kind of interesting as it was.

At this point I didn’t have an album title. I didn’t want to have a “title track”, so to speak; use one of the song titles as the album title. I had a few funny ideas like calling the album Lou Tambone’s Greatest Hits since it was my first record under my own name. That was just me trying to be funny. The truth of the matter is while I was designing and playing with this “background” texture, the phrase “damaged goods” popped into my brain for some unknown reason. I guess I was just thinking of a box with some damage done to it and this looked like it.

So, I played with the blending modes a little, changed some colors around, added the logo text and the scripted words at the bottom, threw a faded stamp on the left (upside down) and that was about it. Instant uninspired album cover.

I’m not too deep, folks. Don’t ever go trying to read all kinds of crazy meanings into the stuff I do. 🙂

My other issue is that I’ve uploaded all these songs to various places like Nimbit, Reverbnation, iLike, Last.fm, and others so I have to go into each of these places and see if I can compile the album using the already existing tracks, or if I have to re-upload everything. I also have to write up some liner notes and all that mess. Once I get all the songs together in a running order that I’m OK with, I’ll see about calling it an official release. However, I wanted to post the album cover at least, just for fun. It’s nothing all that special but I enjoy the simplicity of it for whatever reason.

The other thing I guess I should say is that this record is going to be a work in progress of sorts, even after I call it a record. Some of the songs still need remixing. I’ll probably keep fixing things after it’s released and try to let you know. I’ll just upload and overwrite the old songs with the new ones and things should be pretty seamless and transparent to anyone on the other end of things. When I feel the songs are produced well enough, perhaps I’ll actually press copies but I’m not thinking about that really. For now, I’ll just make the art and liner notes all available via download.

So, enjoy the cover. All the songs are on the music player here on the site (or at the links I have listed) so you can hear the whole thing now. This official “release” is really just a formality. It makes me sound like an actual musician when I can say stuff like, “This is from my album Damaged Goods, which you get get at the merch table.” Yay me.

More songs and records coming soon. As for gigs, I’m putting my energy into that also because I feel the songs will “pop” live and I love playing out. It would be nice to play some places outside of my local area for a change. Small steps.

So thanks for reading and look for more news soon!

Lou's News / Music

April 23, 2010

Every Song Tells A Story: Corporate Robot

The Story

I enjoy humor in music. There are times to be cerebral and there are times to be just plain funny. I like making people laugh with a goofy lyric or idea. This song was meant to be humorous, of course, but underneath it all lies a thinly veiled satirical commentary on corporate America.

The underlying theme in “Corporate Robot” is of conflict. I’ve been working in corporate America now for a long time but I’m not a fan of the corporate mentality that you find in some places. I’ve worked for many companies; some of them big giants and some smaller. In each, I’ve found a different “company culture” statement (written behind closed doors in some HR department) which in most cases totally contradicts what goes on in the hallways and at the water coolers.

Some companies I’ve worked for were so rigid and quiet that there was hardly any communication at all except via computer or at meetings. In other places, there were definitely cliques of people and if you were not in that group, you lost out. At some jobs you didn’t dare talk to someone who had an office unless they came to speak to you (which was rare). At other jobs, the top dogs were the friendliest people, while the mid-level managers were micromanaging, power hungry ego maniacs who basically did nothing all day, much like Lumbergh from Office Space.

In fact, Mike Judge hit the nail so hard on the head with that film that it’s a wonder that film didn’t change the company culture of corporate America as a whole. Like a wake-up call. But I digress.

I’ve also had some good experiences in corporate America but to be honest, it’s just not a fun place. Depending on where you are, you have to basically sit around for a year or two and just observe people before you know who you can talk to and who you can’t. There are walls everywhere.

There’s also this false sense of what they call “professionalism” which apparently means you can’t be human. Everything has to be sterile and controlled. Mechanized. By the book. Robotic.

So after a few years out there, I realized that I don’t really work with people, for the most part. I work with robots. Corporate Robots. At times, I’d notice that as you went up the ladder, this applied more and more. It seems that folks got phonier the higher they climbed the company ladder. They became more clueless and detached somehow, like celebrities who have lived so long in their little bubbles that they can’t be real people anymore when they go out into crowds. They have an alternate sense of reality and can’t adapt.

Now, I’ll admit that the place I’m at now is not really like this. There are definitely walls and some rigid people but for the most part everyone’s cool, all the way up the ladder. The project I’m working on, actually, is going to try to break down some of those walls. So that makes me excited.

Still, all these years in corporate America (especially jobs I had before this one) have affected me and my thinking. I’ve seen some strange stuff and some really odd behavior from people who were paid very well and claimed to be “professionals”.

So that’s basically what this song is about. It’s about having to pay the bills and being stuck in corporate America doing so. Let’s face it. We all have dream jobs and for a high percentage of us, what we’re currently doing is not what we’d like to be doing. I’d sure like to be able to make music all day long, whether it be scoring films, making records, writing for other people, and so on. That’s just not going to happen for me at this point (without being able to dedicate 100% of my time to it), so here I am doing web design and managing portals. It’s decent work but not as fun as playing guitar. Hence the lyric, “I’m stuck in this world.”

The song is also about the creepy people you sometimes see in the hallways that pretend not to see you, the bosses who can never leave their work at the office and enjoy life, and the feeling like you’re slowly becoming one of these people; part of the machine.

Again, it’s meant to be humorous and I got a little serious while writing this. It’s not that I’m feeling all of this at the moment. I actually just liked the term “Corporate Robot” (I had been using it for years) and the rest of the song just sort of flowed from there. Maybe I was having a bad day at work. Who knows.

I tried to throw in some “corporate speak”, as it’s called. Offices have this strange little bit of vernacular that they like to make use of. Phrases like “low hanging fruit” (the goals easiest to achieve in a shorter time) are heard regularly. Of course, I had to throw a Starbucks reference in there. Corporate America basically keeps that place in business and Starbucks itself is pretty much the IBM of coffee.

The bits about the admins and conference rooms are all based on real events that got stuck in my head. People will walk past you in the office, look you in the eye, and not acknowledge you. It’s like they have to have a reason to say hello. Usually that reason is that they need something from you. I could go on all day.

Sometimes you just have to laugh. Or write a song.

The Recording

“Corporate Robot” was actually a fun song to record. I knew from the start that I did not want cymbals on it, outside of hi-hat. I wanted it to be stiff and robotic but I did not want to use a sample of myself or a loop. The song is more about the conflict and trying not to become a robot than about the existing robots themselves. So I wanted the drum track to be stiff and robotic but still somewhat human. Besides, I’m not really that into drum loops. I’d rather just play a drum track than sit there and edit fills for days.

I recorded the drum track, fighting the urge to hit the crashes on the one or wherever my gut would tell me to. I already had the beat in my head so it was easy to bang it out. I just sang along to myself in my head to keep track of where I was. I had a guide chart on a stand to help me.

I added the bass shortly after, which I also had in my head. I wanted the bass to drive the song because I knew there wasn’t going to be much guitar on it. I wanted a funky guitar chord that I would bang on the two with a little variation here and there. I worked out some chord that sounded right and fired up the tele with a nice clean sound. Before I knew it, the basic tracks were done.

It felt like it needed something else, though. Enter the Rhodes. I had purchased a used 1970’s Fender Rhodes some time in the early 1990’s and had been lugging this thing from home to home for years. If you’ve ever seen one of these beautiful monsters, you know they’re big and heavy. I even had a huge road case with wheels for it. Well, at that point in time I had been trying to sell it and had it set up to take a few pictures. It was almost as if it were saying to me, “Hey, I know you don’t want me any more but why not use me one last time?”

So I plugged the thing directly into my Mac and it sounded beautiful. I had fun coming up with some little parts for the song. The bridge is just straight chords. The little solo piece after that really added some life to the song, but not too much life. I even harmonized it a little for fun. Then there’s a different section for the outro based off some E chord. It all just fell together.

Of course, a few days later the Rhodes and the road case were sold and shipped off to Romania. Wild! I used most of the money to pay off some of the Mac and with the rest I picked up a midi controller so I could add things like pianos, horns and strings to anything I wanted to record. One door closes, another opens.

When it came to vocals, I had two ways I could go. I could have sung it normally or robotic. I opted for the latter but I had this issue where I wasn’t sure if people would get the idea. I knew it would sound very “monotonic” and I had hoped that people would know this was on purpose. I didn’t want people to hear it and think, “Does he really sing that poorly?”

So after a good 30 seconds of deliberation (I don’t like wasting time with decisions like that), I just went and sang it like a robot. I even added a little deep robot backing vocal here and there. Tons of fun, really.

“Where’s the plug? Come on pull it,” came out of my subconscious while I was ad-libbing at the end, but I guess it really does sum things up in a way. Unplug the robot. Be human.

Lyrics

Don’t wanna be no corporate robot
Don’t wanna hear about low hanging fruit
Don’t wanna kiss up to a bitchy admin
So I can get the better conference room

Walk past you in the hallway
Look you right in the eye
You look anywhere but my way
Would it kill you to say HI?

Corporate Robot – you’re lifeless and cold
Corporate Robot – you do what you’re told
Corporate Robot – you live by the code
Corporate Robot – it’s old old old

Every day that I’m here
I feel a piece of me slipping away
Replaced by wires and machinery
Transformation is taking place

When you go home to your dependents
Do you know how to be human at all
Do you forget you’re not in the office
Schedule some kid-time to throw around a ball

Got a meeting
Got a voice mail
Got a budget to pass
Got a new hire
Got a new tie
Got a stick up my ass

Got no time
Got no humor
Got no changing moods
Got no patience
Got no guts
Got no idea what I do

The corporate robots line up every day
They get their Starbucks and they pay pay pay
Corporate robots talk in dull corporate speak
Corporate robots think they’re smarter than me

There’s no humanity
There’s no reality
It’s like a B-Movie
It’s killing me

I’m stuck in this world
Gotta find me a corporate girl
Where’s the plug?
Come on pull it

He wants to change music!http://newjersey.craigslist.org/muc/1706390997.html

Don’t let him.
HAHAHAH

Lou's News / Music

April 19, 2010

Every Song Tells a Story

Art lends itself to interpretation. Thus, when it comes to most art forms, the artists tend to shy away from explaining themselves or the motivation behind their finished product. This way, each person can look or listen and take away something different. It’s a good concept that I have trouble disagreeing with.

I do, however, think it’s just a matter of opinion. There are some artists who go the other way and feel comfortable explaining themselves. I appreciate this a little more because I’ve always been a “behind-the-scenes” kind of guy. I like knowing what makes people tick. I enjoy documentaries and (informative) commentary from the artistic minds that conceive the pieces I like.

There’s nothing wrong with leaving things open to interpretation. There’s nothing wrong with artistic explanation. End of story.

Musicians are also artists; creating something from nothing. Because of my inquisitive nature, I love reading about songs that I love and what inspired them. There are some songs that I like but have no idea what they mean, and in some cases, neither do the artists! I remember seeing an interview with Bernie Taupin once where he practically begged the interviewer to tell him what “Take Me To The Pilot” was all about. Bernie admitted that he had no idea. Elton John was similarly perplexed. Great song, however. Art doesn’t always have to have a specific meaning. There’s something to be said for eye/ear candy.

As for me, I find it not only fun but in a weird sort of way cathartic to share the stories behind every song I write. I’m reminded of Rod Stewart’s song, “Every Picture Tells A Story”. In this case, I guess you’d say, “Every Song Tells A Story,” but it’s the same concept. I don’t know the exact statistic but I’d guess that upwards of 90-95% of the songs out there tell some kind of a story. Maybe more, maybe less if you factor in things like instrumentals, jingles, and so on. Who knows? I was never a fan of statistics anyhow.

What I can do is relate all this to my own songs and say that yes, every one has some kind of story. Not a purpose or a deep theme, or anything like that. But there’s always a story even if it’s just about the actual process and not about the song itself, if you catch my meaning.

What I’d like to do on the site is randomly pick songs and talk about the concepts and recording processes behind them. Where did the idea come from? What changed from start to finish? What problems occurred? What choices were made to overcome these issues? Did I enjoy myself?

I want to do this as much for myself as for anyone who’s remotely interested in reading this type of stuff. It’s good to remind myself of what I was doing and thinking at the time because all those details tend to get lost as the years go by. Why not keep a log of sorts? Isn’t that what these websites are sometimes for? Sure. It’s a bit self-indulgent but I actually enjoy writing about the songwriting process. It may sound crazy, but it helps me become a better songwriter. So indulge me.

Starting soon, look for some behind-the-scenes ramblings about my songs and where they came from. Will this interest you? Maybe, but probably not. I’m not sure anyone really likes my songs at all and that doesn’t concern me, really. Sure, it would be nice but I’m the first to admit that they’re not anything great or important. This is something I do for fun and for personal release. I do it because I can. They’re only important to me because I created them.

For those people out there like myself, however, who enjoy reading about songwriting and music recording, these stories will be for you.

Lou's News / Music / Writing

April 15, 2010

Can We Ever Be Genre Free?

I was thinking about music during my commute to NYC today, as I often do, and the notion of genres came to mind. When you tell someone you write music, the next question is almost always something about what genre or what kind of music you play. Music is music to me. It’s a hard question to answer. More on that in a bit.

Let me just say that I think genres are (for the most part) pretty lame. I mean, what exactly is “Americana” or “Indie” anyhow? What’s “Alternative” or “Grunge?” I’ve heard the term “Progressive” attached to anything from Todd Rundgren to Genesis to Rush to King’s X. The “Country” genre is almost anything but country these days. All you need is a little twang in your voice. It seems that as times change, new genres come and go. What was once “disco” moved on to “dance” and then eventually into things like “freestyle”, “trance” and “electronica” and what not. Before Disco, the term “dance” would have probably referred to something akin to Ballroom Dancing. Then there’s the whole “World Music” thing which I’m not sure what to make of, genre-wise.

Who can keep track of all this? The whole thing confuses the hell out of me and while I reluctantly attach a “Rock” genre to my material, you’ll definitely hear other elements in there. I guess this is the real problem I have with genre, actually. Once you’re pigeon-holed into one of those categories, the moment you stray outside of one, you might get attacked or looked at with a cocked eyebrow as if to say, “What are you trying to pull, buddy? How dare you!?”

That’s partly why, as I’m writing new songs, I’m trying to be as diverse as I possibly can. While I sit comfortably in the “Rock” genre (or some might call it “retro rock” or whatever), I stretch out into other areas as well. I don’t do this consciously, for the most part. I do it because I like many different kinds of music and they all influence me and my writing. There are times when I say, “Hmmm. I’d really like to write a reggae-influenced thing…” but this is not because I’m thinking about being pigeon-holed into a Rock genre. It’s just that old reggae-induced rock tunes by bands like The Police and early Joe Jackson influence me. It’s the kind of music I love and whatever chemicals are released into my brain that make that music attractive to me are also swimming around in my skull when I’m writing or thinking about writing something. It’s influence. It’s inspiration, and it doesn’t have to come from any given genre. It can come from anywhere, anytime.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I like to cross these so-called genres. Songs like “Tonight I Ride” and “Number Two” are a little like something the Foo Fighters might put out. I guess you’d call it “Hard Rock” or something. “Corporate Robot” has a slow funk vibe. “Hello Blue Sky” is very “Beatle-ish” for lack of a better term. “The Walking Man” and “Did You Tell Your Man” are straight up blues. Songs like “Mall Girl” and “Crackberry” are stabs at humor with a bit of Lenny Kravitz thrown in for good measure. “The Luckiest Man Alive” even has a twinge of (dare I say) country in there. If you like that 70’s classic rock thing, then “Will We All Be Friends at the End of the World?” is for you.

Future songs that I conjure will definitely keep moving against the genre grain. As I mentioned previously, the reggae-rock fusion thing has been on my mind lately. A genuine funkified Prince-like jam has been rolling around in my noggin for a few weeks now. I definitely need some more acoustic-based ditties to round out the sound. My buddy Doug and I have been talking about a larger piece that we might work on together some time. It’s a bit of a concept piece. Filling out the space in between all this are countless other songs I’ll put together when time allows. Nothing can be forced; it just has to come.

Answering that dreaded “genre” question (when people ask what kind of music you make) is sort of like when a woman asks you if she “looks fat in this outfit.” What do you say? The truth isn’t what the person wants to hear. The lie makes you feel like you’ve done a disservice, in a way. I usually default to the lesser of the two evils and say, “You know… rock stuff.” It’s sort of a non-answer and a little vague but what else can I say? “A little of everything” might work. I don’t know. I despise that word eclectic for some reason. There are too many C’s in that damn word and it just seems overused to me when referring to people’s taste in music. It’s become the standard answer these days. “I have eclectic taste.” That’s actually a good thing but I can’t stop myself from thinking that most of the time when people say this, they’re really just full of shit and listen to top 40 radio all day mistakenly thinking that it’s eclectic because it goes from the latest Rap artist with a hyphenated name to some pop chick that plays piano.

I suppose the big problem I have with the whole thing is that people feel you “have to” fall into some predefined genre to be legit at all. I don’t agree. Where does someone like Prince fall? Is he Rock? R&B? Funk? Easy Listening? Soul? One of the things that initially drew me to Prince (and this was before Purple Rain, kids) was that he was so diverse. 1999 and Controversy were my first two Prince records and they were both heavy in funk but rich enough to include many other styles of music. That was something I could wrap my head around, even as an early teen.

I suppose genres can be helpful for some people and there’s really no way to avoid them entirely. Hell, I’ve utilized them in this very article numerous times, making myself sound hypocritical in a way. I worked in record stores for years and sure, it’s nice to know all the “classical” stuff is “over there” somewhere. I don’t know how many times a day I was asked, “Where’s the _____ section?” People are used to genres. They like to browse by genre. Maybe by doing that, they’ll discover something else they like. That’s cool. I guess it’s all in the context.

Books and other media can also be applied to this line of reasoning. Stephen King is known as a “horror” writer. What is horror, though? In film, you think of Freddy and Jason ripping limbs off terrified kids and slashing their way through 2 hours, which is very fun! King does not write like this (most of the time) and he’s written well outside the “horror” genre, so to speak. I’m not a betting man and I don’t know Stephen King at all, but I’m guessing he’s not thrilled (no pun intended) about being called a “horror” guy all the time.

I will not condemn genres. They just don’t interest me anymore and I certainly don’t want to be dropped into one. But it’s unavoidable, I suppose. People like to throw labels on everything. It’s human nature. We even do it to each other. Black, white, gay, straight, asian, indian, redneck, etc. I’m just as guilty in that aspect but it’s so hard to break out of that habit when you’ve grown up with it in your face every day. I’m not talking about racism, here. I’m just talking about how people tend to put people or things into categories, which can sometimes be different. Don’t misread me. I’m simply making an analogy.

Wouldn’t it be nice to all be known as just human beings? Yes, that would be very nice! Will it happen? Probably not. But it’s nice to think about, isn’t it?

🙂

Lou's News / Music

April 13, 2010

Time for a New Band

I’ve been a musician in some form or another since I was in my late teens. This year I turned 40 and I thought it was about time for a solo effort after playing in many bands and taking an extended hiatus from music in the late 1990’s. I’ve been in original and cover bands before, and I’m still drumming in a few now but I’ve never really had a solo thing with songs written and recorded by myself. I have a large backlog of lyrics plus lots of new ideas so material is definitely not in short supply. Now’s the time to move.

So, I’m looking for some people to back me up in the band. I have a friend willing to play bass but that’s about it for now. I’m going to need a solid lead guitarist, a good drummer, and a versatile keyboard player. I’m in the northern NJ area so if you know anyone who might want to play my original songs with me, please have them listen to the songs here on the site and if they like them, contact me. Some of the recordings aren’t the best but I think they’re going to pop live once the band gets in the groove.

I’m pretty excited about this so hopefully it won’t be too long before there are some gigs on the calendar. In the meantime, I’ll continue recording new material and seeing what other trouble I can get myself into. Stay tuned to the site for updates on the band situation and lots more.

Wish me luck!