Hai Folks, have yourself a happy 2020! Time surely flies.
A little update about the music, I've got:
12 songs, one song needs some lyrics and then I'll mix them until I'm satisfied. I'm really surprised by the quality of the songs and arrangements, can't wait to let you inside my.....!
At the same time I've been busy choosing the right pictures for the covers. All designed and ready! I guess I couldn't help myself, but there are 3 videos in the can. All lyric based videos with a lot of colourful effects to stir the juices.
So, hum, I'm excited.
Is there any radio show to watch on Youtube? Certainly, there are lots of ways to spread the word, more so, if you do that visually. But it's not easy to fit in with my (funky, jazzy sounds) music. But this show is really eclectic, they play "everything". So I uploaded my promo "Fly Talk" et voila. This duo, Dee and Loki have a little chit chat, funny stories and music to promote. Thanks guys!
Subscribe:
Ok. Fine. Did the work. Did you listen? Of course.
Just say...YES! Thank you.
A whole year just writing songs- and there were a lot of them- always makes you wonder which ones will make it to the finish line. I'm tired, but fulfilled and I ain't gonna stop now..so much to do....I'll just vanish again.
Now, pay attention, let me tell you all about the tunes on "Just Say KNOW".
01.Not Now
A quick and fun one to write, so obviously the first one that motivated me to create a new album again. Upbeat and funky. Fun to dance to. No, not now! Always looking out for the right groove to get me going. A lot of dancing tunes inspired me (especially those from the seventies).
02.The Vanished Romeo
One of my favourite songs of the album. I like the smooth shuffle, jazzy arrangements in the verses and the latin groove of the refrain. Slowly building up a tension. That's a combination that does it for me. A lot of sweat involved here that almost turned into a bloody mess. O Romeo....
03.Indie
What does that mean "Indie" anyway these days. Independent? It's a DIY world already!
Strumming chords can be boring, but this pattern kept me busy, playing for hours.
04.My Cat Is Stoned
A normal cats and dogs day... Cat wants to be a dog and vica versa. I simply wrote this on guitar.
I always try to come up with a fun song that keeps the balance between sad/glad/serious/fun.
05.Loaded
The latin infection. Latin stuff keeps creeping into my songs. Why? I love rhythm.
As long there's a melody/hook it's allright I guess. I'm loaded with that. This is a song about friendship and the love involved.
06.Gameface
On edge all the time...
That's my songwriting spirit sometimes. A bit more darker/ angrier than the rest of the album. Good for the balance. Maybe a bit Peter Gabriel (So, Us) influence. I've payed a lot of attention to the dynamics.
07.Rottendance
I like dancing. Rhythm. Hypnotic beats... If it falls flat it's just what "disco" did at the end of the seventies and what "house" does today. To me, it's not human, it's too safe, superficial (they all sound the same!), generetically rotten.
Here, I even give you a pulsing beat that evolves into a reggae pattern in the chorus. But don't misunderstand: I just want to dance again.
08.Crest Of A Wave
Bossa style dutchman. I've always admired brazilian music for its subtle, passionate and smooth patterns. Exotic music oozes summer. I'm just an old fashioned melancholic guy here.
09.There's No Sense In Making Sense
Stop making sense! A terrific Talking Heads concert movie said it all. Restless song, but floating. A little experimenting with the rhythm breaking up did the trick.
10.All The Way
The vanished crooner. As we reach the final, an easy-on the ears ballad can do wonders to comfort your soul and mind. All the way.
11.Not Ever
Coda: a dreamy instrumental and a serious contrast to the first (upbeat) song "Not Now". Say NO. Do not give in. Not Now, not ever.
Every year, a new TVD album appears online. It makes me wonder how? It's like nature's cycle man. Groovy. It comes and it goes. The Vanished Dutchman comes back.
The title "Sagitario"
Well, it's a nice spanish word for the zodiac sign Sagittarius, which is used so many times already in the age of aquarius sixties. Just too pretentious to use.
SaGITARio...
Well and it is my sign. Let's find more about that:
(original source astrology-zodiac signs:) "Strengths:Generous, idealistic, great sense of humor Weaknesses:Promises more than can deliver, very impatient, will say anything no matter how undiplomatic Sagittarius likes:Freedom, travel, philosophy, being outdoors Sagittarius dislikes:Clingy people, being constrained, off-the-wall theories, details Curious and energetic, Sagittarius is one of the biggest travelers
among all zodiac signs. Their open mind and philosophical view motivates
them to wander around the world in search of the meaning of life. Sagittarius is extrovert, optimistic and enthusiastic, and likes
changes. Sagittarius-born are able to transform their thoughts into
concrete actions and they will do anything to achieve their goals. Like the other fire signs, Sagittarius needs to be constantly in
touch with the world to experience as much as possible. The ruling
planet of Sagittarius is Jupiter, the largest planet of the zodiac.
Their enthusiasm has no bounds, and therefore people born under the
Sagittarius sign possess a great sense of humor and an intense
curiosity. Freedom is their greatest treasure, because only then they can freely
travel and explore different cultures and philosophies. Because of
their honesty, Sagittarius-born are often impatient and tactless when
they need to say or do something, so it's important to learn to express
themselves in a tolerant and socially acceptable way."
Do I believe in this concept? Well I don't think that it matters, it's still fascinating and colourful anyway as I do recognise a few sly streaks.
The process:
1979: I wrote my first lyrics during english classes, but I wanted more. Next to being active as a drummer, I wanted to write my own songs. My then- royal girlfriend sold me her cheap guitar. Cheap didn't matter: the songs dripped from my fingers. I "ate" all the chord progessions I could find (from the Beatles chordbook). I pressed record on any old taperecorder and played...and recorded. Up to often three cassettes a year. From 1998 on I burned cd's. And from 2005 I do it the digital way.
Since then I never looked back, only just a once.
Now I've got better equipment, more flexible tools to work with, better guitars and chops. About time I've grown up!
Still, it amazes me how I can keep it up (!?)
Are you ready for some upbeat songs? Turn them up! Feed me back!
Private Scene
The toilet is my only private scene. To have some real fun, why not start off with an upbeat song? This joyous song hit me, so I hit back. Five minutes of blood, sweat and cheers. While it took little time to write, but arrangment-wise it was an adventure in rhythm patterns and melodies. To my surprise , lyrically it's sort of a sequel to "Unscrew Yourself". Topic: privacy. Promo video
Happy Pills
Dancable and uplifting ditty, a spontanious funky guitar motive seems to make "fastwriting" almost a sport. Recorded on the spot. F-U-N. Topic: no pills needed. Promo video
Chameleon Girlfriend
This last, unexpected smooth one is my favourite. Almost did it in a minute. Topic: inspired by a story from the NY times and a few chameleons in my social environment. O, how they adapt.
Hey, there's a little J.J.Cale influence there in the voice.
Speed Turtle
Funny breaks, funny harmonies. Topic: Wake up call. True story. Policeman stopped my car at 4 a.m., because I was driving....too slow, like a turtle. I was listening out loud to the latest mastering of these songs and I guess I forgot to drive fast! Ouch!
Blink
Energentic burst on the piano stirred my blood. Topic: Silicon Valley; what does it to people in general... and are we really human anyway anymore? It brought up a lot of energetic stuff musically and irony. You see, everything can be an inspiration. Listen to that baseline intertwined with that piano motive. Groove.
Roll Into A Ball
Seventies soulful jazzfeel on the Fender Rhodes. I love a shuffle halftime, hanging into a slow groove. Topic: esapism. Artist wants to hide, rolls into a ball. Ken ditches Barbie.
Convenient
Grew up in seventies where black influenced white music a lot: Blue-eyed Soul it was called. Crossover it became. Here's my smooth version of it.
Surprise!
Older song I couldn't finish lyrically at first. Surprise! Is it a surprise that Donald became the Prez?. Topic: trumped. "Look in the mirror Donny!" his wife says. No, it's not meant to be a political song. That temperamental latin flavor certainly helps to keep things on the edge.
Blame Me For The Fun
Slapstick time. Topic: I guess you can spot a bit of the goofy Laurel & Hardy theme (I've watched all those movies and sketches again in recent times) in here. Big fan. Laughs. LOL. Tribute.
Now We Are Talking
One of the first songs I wrote for this album. Give me a spanish guitar and the exotixc sounds of Brazil flow through my fingers. Relaxed, but a challenge to sing (bossa-nova) melodically.
Itch
This took a long time to finish, while it started out simple. A lot of ideas (breaks) in one song is a challenge. As I liked all the melodic contrasts and dynamics, it made its way into this album.
Sagitario
An older idea, which has grown on me since. In case anyone has enough of my voice (I'm not surprised), the last one is an instrumental, a melancholic and melodic one in latin fashion. It started out as a vocal piece, which I think still has potential too, so who knows...
That's my story so far...what's yours?
Keep on rocking!
The process of songwriting/ recording/ mixing/ mastering
May 2014 I began writing and recording the new stuff. Already had a flow of ideas in the bag, so no worries in that department. I've been spending a lot of time mixing and mastering the songs though. Youtube and other friendly sound engineers helped me out with the technical know how much more further. Yes, I try to learn about every aspect of the process. Next time I hope to do things much more efficient in the recording process.
Inspiration for the title
Every year I try to come up with another appropiate title that epitomise what these songs stand for.
Guess Zappa's quotes brought me the one that connects those 12 songs.
And...I already had a few songs with a "parachute" reference. Your mind only works if one opens it. With songwriting, that seems not that difficult for me. Just jump fearlessly into the free air...just dare.
That introvert face on the frontcover stands for my introvert side and my wife's selfie reflex has captured that right on the spot.
I sort of invite you all to open up my parachute and you'll see/hear...... the songs will jump out of my head.
(next: released a parachute and where did it land?)
You've listened already? Here's some information about the 12 parachutes. I think this is my most accessible and dancable record so far, so let's follow our restless feet, while reading. Hope you like.
It's all in the mind
01.Chalky
A burst of restless energy I tried to put down in a tight fit arranged funk. Started as one of the first new songs for this album, inspired by the dense grooves of 1980's Remain In Light era Talking Heads, but heading (totally?) elsewhere eventually. The working out of the tightness in accents and the finishing of various arrangements took me almost a year, before I was really satisfied. I am now.
02.Dancing Dutchman
A little nostalgic throwback to my numerous dance moves I left on the dancefloor hearing those seventies soul (Chic, Kool & The Gang, Rose Royce, KC & The Sunshine Band) in those after midnight discotheques. Proud of the melodic chorus and the groove, which convinced me to put on my dancing shoes again.
03.Everything Is A-Okay
Is it okay? Most of the time. With this song I think I've reached a very accessible side of the melodic and the rhythm of exotic coolness with a few instrumental adventures in the middle too.
04.Jump For Your Life
Searching for that parachute that brings joy and playfulness. Just jump and watch what happens. Old fashionated pop and bluesy funk.
05.The Riddle Room
One song idea from the last album sessions that needed more time to develop. Just a funny motive on piano started another riddle in my room.
06.It's A Struggle Honey
Two ideas (one melodic, another rhythm) put together in dreamlike fashion. An old trick: use that mod & pitchwheel on the keyboard. I freaked a lot throughout the album.
07.Hipster Mind
Hipster was the word of 2015 (but it's so old), but the hipness is gone. A piano & guitar motive accent on a pulsing groove pushed this into a song. Starts off like an voice-over intro to a hip chatty radioshow, but that slow, threatening groove gets in the way.
08.Issues?
The question mark says it all. I connected this funky bassline with a accenting guitarpattern and voila. Just dance the seventies (Gap band, Ohio Players,...) to it.
09.Parachute
A song for superman! Slapstick enters. Silent movies. Finally flying! Goofing off.
10.Cosmopolitan Circus
Instrumental stuff to rest my voice. I liked working on this a lot. It's different. A bit Kurt Weilish. European vaudeville? I recorded piano parts in a few takes. I put a few "hymnlike voicing" plugins on the melodies for the angelic atmosphere. Proud of this.
11.The Slippery Slope
Inspired by the 1965 movie "Mirage" featuring Gregory Peck. I like mystery, so a song developed from there. It begins and it ends more or less the same.
12.Ha Veda Va
Latinesque. That chant doesn't mean a thing, just a few fitting spanish words put together for us to sing: Ha= it has. Veda= farewell. Va= will. Cryptic? Yes maybe, but what does "trolololololo" mean? Hope I don't offend anyone.
Solo on keyboard at the last part, that's me pitching the sound, combining horns, organ and guitar.
That's it folks, my story. Maybe you listen to these songs with other ears now.
It's time for my confession. To talk to you about my chronic addiction. Everyone's got one: well, mine is a my ongoing music collecting habit. These days I'm inclined to go back to my old favourites, so the urge to stay ahead of any new, hip trend is minimilized to a few listens of easy googling. The reason for this sudden come out, is the "sudden" deaths of idols, like David Bowie, Allen Toussaint, Maurice White and Dan Hicks that triggered me to go back to my Golden Years of that addiction. It's far from complete when I talk about specific albums though. They just represent a few precious and personal moments.
Feel free to respond. Why not leave your own anecdote?
How did that start? It was the Summer of Love, this kid was about 4 years old and very curious. My first obsession with music was with my daddy's turntable, (spinning all kind of records that could play different tempos, 33, 45, 78 rpm), by watching the grooves going round. My first auditory learning. My father had an enormous amount of different records, like classical, jazz, blues, pop, rock that kept my ears wide open. This curious kid was also fascinated by that needle...what did that do? And where did that sound come from? As I was forbidden to touch that thing in any way, I could not help myself thinking about it and doing what daddy was doing just by breaking that golden rule. Wrong. I wanted to be the DJ in da house! Wrong. So one night I sneaked downstairs. Wrong! In the darkness I nervously picked out a random record-wrong- and laid it down on the turntable. So wrong! It all went dramatically downhill when I tried to put the needle on the edge of the record. My not so steady fingers pushed it all the way to the center of the plate. Gggrriiiiechhh!! Oeps, did I offend someone? Maybe I was the first scratcher in the dark, before it became hip. Yeah, right. All you see now, is a scratch going right through the grooves where the once powerful voice of Maria Callas stopped in its tracks and instead turned into this upset and hurt witch, as my father would show me many years later. Shame on sneaky me. I HAD to have one for myself! When I was about 11 years old, a turntable in a suitcase with one speaker (mono!) became my companion for the next few years. O my god, how many records did I spoil on that thing. The cheap needles did the destroying work. Fustrating when it was skipping or when it was repeating the same groove over and over. Almost made me hate the song! I still have those crippled records by the way. My first ambitious buy was a greatest hits double album of the Rolling Stones(Rolled Gold) with all of their sixties hits, like Satisfaction, Ruby Tuesday, Jumping Jack Flash and all their famous rest......excitement! I got lost track of this one somewhere, somehow though. Hey, it was a cheap pressing anyway. During these times I discovered the record stores. My mother took me along for an initiation to the obvious expensive ones, where you couldn't find anything special. But no tears, there were alternatives. Ah yes, the secondhand stores.
Not a lot of money in my pocket restricted me to the "unknown" names of artists/ bands that didn't sell at the time. If a cover was appealing enough I would buy it. One time I thought I had bought the first solo album of John Lennon (Plastic Ono Band 1970) for a bargain. I found out why.... It was Yoko Ono's version. O no. Sometimes I got lucky: I didn't know them well then, but arty, experimental albums of Can (Soon of Babaluma 1975) and Roxy Music (For Your Pleasure 1973) were eyeopeners and I'm still glad I've encountered them. They helped the exploration further. An urge to find any rare item of my favourite artists/ bands become a growing obsession. My collection grew and grew the more I broadened my musical palette, searching certain byways. At the start of the seventies I was basically a Pop music fan. Especially appealing were the harmony vocals, singalong melodies, but I could not
avoid those anyway as my parents kept the volume way up high. So many radio hits of the sixties had become part of my consciousness already as there was so much to explore. I saw a snowball and went after it. "Stamp" The influences I'm obviously talking about here, are the Beatles, Kinks stamp or the energetic side of pop in powerpop, the Who/ Stones
stamp. All unmistakenly english, but basically influenced by americana. Sort of the heir to the Beatles and the answer for the seventies to my young ears were the infectious melodies of the first arty period
(1973-1976) of 10cc. I still go back to
these first three very fun and clever albums if I'm in need of some
fresh inspiration. I bought them later on though, when I had more
holes (=money in my hand). I liked Prog-Rock, but it tried to top the Fabfour in too may scales, often in vain as it would turn out. All and all, I'm more of an art-rock (ironic, sarcastic, sardonic) than a prog-rock (too serious) fan, if you ask
me.
"a fixated mindset on the snowball that kept on rolling"
No city was safe. You could find me searching for any secondhand recordstore. I often consulted the dutch pop-encyclopedies, studied them to prepare myself more thoroughly. Listened to the radio. Made lists of "wanna have" items. Read magazines. Followed hitparades. Exchanged news with other nerds. Went to concerts. Got lost at music fairs. A fixated mindset on the snowball that kept on rolling. I Searched for all the-so so- recommended albums and often got them for a nice price. Collector items? Too expensive. Zappa? Not available, only import. Too expensive. Later on, I had my digital revenge. Still I could find a few underrated albums as well before they were collector's items years later.
I was often so, so lucky.
Books to read and the place to be
As my turntables got better, so did the
needles and so my records were safe from harm. One of my favourite recordstores at the
end of the seventies up until the millennium, was "Concerto" in
Amsterdam. The concept of four
different stores (secondhand, new popular, jazz and classical) next to
eachother under the same banner, was a pretty sight to see. The balance of the old and the new. With the smell of
secondhand vinyl in my nose in the morning, I eagerlessly walked the long walk
from central station right through the crowded centre to that long street near Rembrandsplein, just
to get me some of those rare stuff. That was my only drug then. Didn't need a coffeshop man!
Sometimes I hesitated though
I remember watching David Bowie's "Golden Years" on television around 1976. I found it all too strange. A white man singing "Soul"? I was already familiar with his androgyne look witnessing "Jean Genie" and his haunting "Space Odessey". I even purchased his early work, (a compilation "Changes One"), but this was different altogether. Black music was spreading like oil in influence, as witnessed by his funky track "Fame" from 1975, which James Brown (!) ironically stole its guitar lick from (played by his ex-guitarist Carlos Alomar, then Bowie's) for his 1976 "Hot"song.
I was intrigued by this, rhythmically hypnotic, repeating wah-wah sound and its heavenly sung melody. It hit me in the gut. I didn't really know about funk or soul then. It was the time of high-heeled platform shoes, just after the Hustle dance craze as disco glitter balls and coloured floorlights were changing the view of the ballrooms. Well and here was that Thin White Duke crooning all over an infectious groove, slowly, slipping underneath my skin. I had to find out about it. Which album it was on. I had to have it! I soon found that B&W cover with the red title and artist letters looking like one word in the nearest recordshop, staring at it for a long time. I couldn't afford the full price yet. I almost wanted to steal it. No downloads possible then. In 1977 I had a few bucks more, by saving birthday gifts from generous uncles and aunts. There it was, just waiting for me to grab it. I clearly remember it was christmas and the albums had a special low-price sticker on them. Still.... I didn't buy it! What the F...?
Tastes develop and so was mine, restless and always evolving. Sort of. I couldn't help myself. For example, I had a soft spot for the softpop-progrock of Supertramp ("Just A Little Bit" was their 1977 hit) and the very melodic album "Even In The Quietest Moments" had the right price.
Yes, I bought that one instead. O my.
Fate.
I can't recall how, but eventually I even got my hands on "Station To Station" as well. My mother loved his version of "Wild Is The Wind", as she loved Nina Simone's, so I think she bought it and I usually had to hear her favourite song over and over and then again. Very loud. Maybe we eventually swapped albums. Wathever happened, when I finally listened to the whole record I was hOOked on David Bowie and the snowball rolled on to R&B, Soul and Funk. "Staaaaayyyyy....". When Bowie died, I had to go back to that album. Sure, this one is a favourite, but "Low" and "Heroes" are too. That whole period 1976-1978 was a magical one for me. Soon I was checking out other white guys that "did" black music, even more when I saw this on TV (Vid.): Boz Scaggs. The unavoidable hits "What Can I Say and "Lowdown". That smooth,
slick and sophisticated sound and rhythm patterns got me
hooked. The word was "crossover", before it became AOR. Melody and rhythm combined, that was the key! Blue-eyed soul it was called.
His
old bandmate Steve Miller's
"Fly Like An Eagle" crossovered me too. What Could I Say?
I was already aware of the irresistable, hypnotic rhythms though.Of course James Brown's "Sexmachine" comes to mind. It got a lot of spins on seventies radio, so one could not avoid it. No way. I still had to feel it in my gut.
It was the overdone and outragous image of black music that put me off at
first. I couldn't take it all too seriously. Found out it was me who was
too serious.
It hit me like a rhythm
stick, I loved it!
I couldn't find the studio version right away, but then
I saw this double live album by the Commodores.
Wow, why not try out the "live" version, maybe there's more excitement! Got that right brother. And one of the reasons I
wanted to play the drums I guess. Still I had to discover Sly and P-Funk. But this gave me some fresh, positive vibes. I was funked and ready for more.
Thanks to that one hell of a smart Mr. Bowie.
Speaking of live albums in 1976: it became a trend when Peter Frampton's
"Comes Alive" came out and found its way in every household on any
block of the world. Yes, the sensation of the big stadium tours.
Another successful double-well, half live- album was Santana's
"Moonflower" that turned me on to the more adventurous and unexpected
syncopated side of rhythm: Latin music (salsa, samba, bosa nova, jazz).
And then BAM, "Punk" washed the bubbling and overblown progrockhipfest thing away.
And what do you think was my reaction....??
I moved on, still bought more, went digital, but kept my collection. I also save them on hardisks.
It's been a year since I delivered "I Mimic Me". And now after an endless and addictive noodling situation in my homestudio, I'm going to tell the story behind them songs. It's always difficult to stop that creative process and give those babies away, but I'm also curious and excited- in a "what will happen with them?" mood. Not that I'm expecting too much...
This time I've chosen more songs than I had in mind, but I think they all fit the complete puzzle as It was meant to be.
Now JoosTVD, what about touring? Mmmmmm...
Back to the homestudio: how did I do it?
1.Unscrew Yourself The last song I wrote for this album. Unexpected. After strumming a lot of different D chords, I caught myself singing a simple melody to cheer me and you up! The build-up arrangements were a challenge, breaks and all, but then lightning struck. Now unscrew yourself.
2.Paranoiac With A Gun Tense, nervous song, a bit like David Byrne's Psycho killer maybe. I wanted a more menacing, crazed voice. so a moment of rage I put down quickly and I think that's why it works. Notice the contrast with the more melodic and softer bridge (where I sing "but it's high....bullet in the sky"). Danceable.
3.Conspiracy In My Jacuzzi Hitchcock fantasy. A dangerous story! So I had to switch to narrator. the pitches in my voice were done deliberately. That paranoiac (pt.2)is everywhere, even in your own private bathroom.
4.Don't Do It Again This song started out with a funky groove looping around and a few guitarchords, but it really caught fire when I wrote the melody on piano. I've noticed that I can create motives and melodies easier on piano than on guitar. Groovy.
5.Lost In The Underground Pure Songwriting: knocked out guitar and melody parts all at once. Got this upand fast tempo! Which Arrangement? That latin touch was not difficult to choose. Melodies in the instrumental parts were found on piano. Joyful.
6.Rock'n Roll Me In Or Out Fun fast write. This mirrors the paranoia of song 2 & 3. Blues turnaround outfit with country boots underneath it. I had lots of fun creating melodies. It always puts a broad smile on my face when I hear the first tones. Obvious video will follow...
7.Guru In A Lovetown Satire on the narcistic way we use the media. One of the first songs I wrote that paved the way for some of punchier directions of this album. Dangerous guru charm!
8.Merenque Me Inside Out Some ideas reveal their identity a couple years later. This is one of those ditties, where my voice didn't fit with the melody (not what I'd like to hear in my head), not until I found those latinesque melodies on the piano.Simply sung the title which finished it. Seduction.
9.Limo I think the first song I wrote for this album. More a vibe. I had a motive on electric piano. I used a fat wurlitzersound to get in the mood. Smooth.
Excited Dutchman
10.But Do I Miss You Love, o my, what a serious topic... still I can't resist an old fashioned pop ballad about some lost love andI came up with one. Tried to sing with sincere vulnerability. So hard...
11.Never Get Tired An older idea, first meant tobe sung. That didn't satisfy, so I tried it the instrumental way which gave me a chance to experiment with instruments and melodies. Tireless energy.
12.Put Me To The Test Mood: a little R&B and a smooth funky groovegot me this far. A little Innercity Marvin Blues...
13.When The Chili Hits The Fan Purpose of the song: hot (chili) humor counterbalances the heavy stuff. Just for the fun. After diner.
14.Your Hard-To-Get Got Up And Went James Brown spoof? That chant ("hard to get"), the slow down effect on horns and funny noises did the trick. Funk me.
15.Shoeshine Boy Rockish (classic?) ballad. And yes it's personal. Took a looooong time to get that final touch. Even played the solo slide guitar (haha). Even that is personal and not technical. Strength.
16.On A Good Day Both relaxing and groovy song. Melodies written on the piano.
17.Live It Up For Me My spanish guitar always brings out a certain latin charm that was the basis for this song. I found some melodic twists and turns (bridge), satisfying enough to be chosen for this abum.
18.For A Lifetime In A Daydream Dreamy, melancholic popballad written and played in one take on piano.
Well, if you have made it this far, you can relax/ scream/ laugh/ cry/ take a leak. Fill me in! Thanks for listening. Spread 'em folks!
Ok, now it's out of the bag...
As usual (am I boring, predictable?), once a year I invite the listeners to read about the "inside" story of a new album. How I vanish into my reclusive hole and come back with some new, fresh & above all: haha, brilliant music. But hey, there's no hidden message here!. For me, music has to be fun, joy, melodic, funky, over the top, ironic, colourful and full of character. I Mimic Me.
After my last album "The Ballooning Brouhaha" floated through digital spaces, I immediately sat down to the work. Ideas "always" come quick, emotions keep pouring out of my fingertips. But how to shape them in attractive little ditties?
I always start recording with a basic track (rhythm pattern) and the first instrument (piano, guitar) I've chosen to write on. I want to record as fast as possible to capture the energy and/or the emotion of that particular "high" moment of inspiration. Record as if in "performance". Forget "studio".
Choices, doubts, solutions, inspiration going back and forth. Well, mostly for me, I'm working around the more technical shortcommings I have as a recording-in the flesh- musician. So the last few years I've been watching some show-off sound engineer pros showing their flashy studio stuff on Youtube. There are a lot of choices you can make, details you can alter with your workstation (Pro Tools is mine), especially in the mixing process, which makes the whole process even more challenging to keep things as organic as possible.
As long as it helps me further. But it all starts with a tight rehearsed performance, so what you can't fix....
Listen carefully!
Now, press on your application of choice (sorry no vinyl), like Deezer, Spotify or iTunes or maybe your free download and let those little stories stir up your imagination.
01.Cowboy On The Moon
Build around a chord progression I luckely found on the piano almost a year ago(!). I wrote a few countermelodies (guitar and woodwinds) that brought more layered excitement arrangementwise that I wanted for the song. I had lot of fun with this one, never stopped developping ideas in that department. Took a long time to write about cowboys-no indians-but moons though...
O U T L A W
02.Velvet Shoes
This took 3 minutes to write, but the vision to work it out, took a lot longer....
You can guess this is about Lou Reed, my indirect connection with him, expressed in a an uplifting, I hope, tribute song. His death and his music got me closer again to the legend and his work (my fave is 1973's Berlin). Yes, I tried to use some of his typical pronounciation (but "I mimic me" right?) and a few of his familiar lines (wild side, white heat white light). Fun song!
Btw, great read: two biographies of Lou and the Velvet Underground by Victor Bockris.
N E W Y O R K
03.Buy (Bye Bye)
Topic: a pact with the devil/Faust: selling out in favor of becoming successful. Bye, buy...
I used this funkbeat for intensity, although I can never be that hypnotic like James Brown, but I can in a, uuh, funny JoosTVD kind of way.
F A U S T
04.Ballroom Blues
Overblown ballroom showstopper (took a lot of mindslapping working this out!) about windbags and other loudmouths. You know who you are. Now shut the f... up!
O V E R K I L L
05.Social Suicide
One of those fun songs that wrote itself and relatively quick both musically and lyrically. All 13 songs came quick, but mostly musically.The choice of intruments, how to colour the arrangements...they' re already there in my head when I wrote this song.
H A P P I N E S S
06.I Mimic Me
Here I go again! The same burst of creativity happened like song 5. Short and sweet. I really like that. Maybe the next time I can put out an album even quicker. Well.....these explosive moments are rare though. And I love what Jack Bruce did with Kip Hanrahan. (great album: Vertical Currency 1984)
M I R R O R
07.Different Kind Of Cool
Yeah, a fast, funpowerpop rocksong. Something (rock) I do not do often, but it gives the album a different- rockier- colour.
O U T C A S T
08.Intermission Of Love
Hey lunch hour! A little (one minute!) Tin Pan Alley love song. Yes, I really love the creativity of Irving berlin and Cole Porter. These chords say it all: melodic, romantic. Ahh, my soft side...
S I N P A N A L L E Y
09.Cats (Walk With A Swagger)
One of the first tunes I wrote for this album. It gave me purpose of direction. A lot of funny (real cat sounds) stuff happening, surprising breaks and stops in combination with melodies. (thanks to Arto Lindsay & the Ambitious Lovers)
D O G G Y C A T
10.Sin Pan Alleyman
Unexpectacly, former musical mate Wijnand Brant (WB) helped me out with his unstoppable fingers & guitars on this forgotten instrumental idea, one of many I've piled up on my harddisk.
(C O N) F U S I O N ? !
11.Lovesong For The Ghetto
Wrote this relatively quick on guitar, sang the title (and liked the melodic refrain a lot) and voila...it's a bit dark (ghetto), but eased, counterbalanced with some eerie female voices, which I found fitting with my own low male singing.
G H E T T O
12.Coffin Song
Also one of the first more uplifting (listen to the guitar chords, variations in D), funky song I wrote, musically that is. The theme is a little dark though: "put the sickness in the ground". No, no cofee needed. A coffin with a "n". Not a special message I have here, it's just dark humor, sardonic wordplay.
C O F F I N
13.I See You
To counterbalance the more energetic songs, there' s always some sort of melancholic ballad I come up with- developped on the piano- after much rehearsel, this was recorded live. I've tried to come up with something uplifting, melodic, not too self-important or dramatic.
P I A N O
14.Cowboy In Your Room
Reprising song nr.1 here, it has got a few nice breaks in it, so the idea for an instrumental promo (see video post) was born.
P R O M O
I usually have no problems falling asleep at night, but sometimes the loose ends of the day crawl into my head and keep me awake. Damn, last night I fellt so restless, after spending hours and hours working endlessly on different new songs during daytime. Not satisfied, because the day ends at 24 hours and I just wanna go on. Patience is a virtue I've got to give into. The restlessness is not by all means negative. I'm trying to get a grip on the flowing word and soundmachinery, that's in my subconcious mind. So during the time I couldn't sleep, all those clourful ideas came together. I couldn't wait to see the light of the day. There and then, after a nice 3-cup of coffee (!), I enthousiastically put my fingers on the keys or between the frets of my guitar, but, there was nothing really flowing here. "Don't push it", I heard a gentle voice saying in the hairs of my neck. Then suddenly my heart dropped a mile into the ground. I froze, as I watched my monitor: I couldn't get that damn mouse working. What I saw was a miror image of the state I was in: total standstill. Just recorded a bunch of intense vocals and then it all froze before my very eyes. Ok, the world won't stop, so I gently pushed the reset knob on that big, senseless machine, but then I realised I forgot to save all the recorded parts ... Jeeezuss, I know it happened before, but it's just very fustrating. So I took a deep breath, pauze for a moment. Trying to keep up with the rest of the high spirits I've got and do it all over again, as it often worked before. Finally put something sensitive into the musicbox. Still got that nagging feeling of the lost and vanished melodies I sang the first time, so the day ended in a kind of anti-climatic way..., or not?
That narcistic, creative life is a big bubble, I know: it has to burst into little pieces to get a chance to make it whole again. All the little things matter. A nice comment on my daughter's new clothes or the joking around with my son. That's the drive that keeps my boat float for a while. And then there is the outer world. What do I care? Well if someone plays your song on the radio and if that someone is Tom Robinson (who wrote some very moving songs like "War Baby" that got me through during some rough times), than that little outside world moment means something to me. Just as I wanted to shut down the machinery I happened to notice that "Bomb Won't Go Off" was played again, now on Tom's saturday show, the Tom Robinson Show. Starts at 1.03 and at 1.11 he did try to narrate my bio in dutch (?!) after the song was over. Hilarious! When you ever need the outside world, that moment surely arrived in time. Generous man...
Check that playlist btw! Just after Paul Simon
Buttuh, nothing special, every person is a microcosmos....
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