Writing for the next album, we have achieved Mall Rock. yay!
The next album we're working on had the working title 'Love song of the midwest' but no one other than me liked that title.
Still, the name 'the mid west album' has stuck.
There is quite some discussion about the concept of this next work.
Along the way we've followed different concepts for each recording.
1. Whiskey Talking - setting us in the middle of Blues/Roots, with styles from Straight Blues to Jazz.
2. Spacejunk - All analogue, tape speed wobbles and all. Blues, blues rock
3. Nuevo Retro - Fusions of Zydeco beats and shuffles (Can't tax love) to Pacific Island Styles (Island Time) to Colonial Australian Celtic Bushranger songs.
4. Carl's Chair - 'Dirt Music' style roots to country with jazzy blues, recorded live, on location, in the country, on a porch. This was the album that got us chucked out of the Blues Club for TRAITOROUS USE OF MANDOLINS!!! Also, singing in tune without rough growly voice was a no-no. Sorry 'bout that.
5. Hired Guns & Borrowed Glory - Recorded on location, big hall sound, once again a complete mix of styles. Ross Fear, a Learned and Esteemed DJ and mate says some pretty crazy things about this album and views it in a way that we view other peoples Great Work. good on ya Ross. I still think my harp in Even In A lifetime is very iffy.
6. The Curious assembly. Each track recorded at a different studio/location, in different ways, from Big money tape units and fancy shmancy studios to iPad in backyard. Styles from Reggae with Harmonica to Blues/Japanese Pop to Who Knows What This Is.
7. Everywhere Feels Like Home - our soundtrack album, featuring our first instrumentals and tracking our musical progress around the midwest, from Folk to Mid west rock to Blues. Also Mongolian Throat Singing and Cello. Why not.
8. The KC Album - Blues. soul, funk and Country tinged gospel, recorded with Living Legend players. Recorded in 5 days whilst trapped in KC. Still in mixing.
and now...SC9...the midwest album.
So the discussion is, what exactly is the Midwest Album about?
I think the scene has been set by Better Off Without You.
We've have absorbed and been influenced by everywhere we've been, the people we've played with and the stories of the folks we've met.
Over the course of time we've written songs from 'inspiration' and then there are a number where we have had a specific goal in mind, such as our tribute to the Aussie Wrestlers, 'Return of the king', where we wanted a straight ahead bar-room rocker.
The more comfortable we have become producing our own material, the more we have started to achieve the outcomes we have intended. Or. sort of. Sometimes the output isn't what you wanted but better, gooder or OMG WTF and then you wince and move on.
There is always the other way too, which is to call any result victory, which I think saves a lot of time.
Mr Wizard observed that the Mid West album isn't so much about the styles that originated there, but the styles that are well received there. that gives us quite the latitude.
Bill had suggested we needed to add a few more fast numbers to the set, so we sat down to write a straight forward banger, much in the frame of 'Drink you off my mind', 'give me something I want' or a few of the other Aussie Pub Rock mutants we've produced.
Regular 'cellar dwellers may recall my most recent post was about working with the poetry of Rick Lyon in a new song, talking about metaphor and words.
Well, stuff all that, we produced a solid no-deep-thoughts-required, short words, not too many syllables, piece of MALL ROCK.
Yeah baby. I am stoked. Throw the horns Stephen!
Of course you'll have to come to a gig to hear it, until we get it recorded.
Oh and that assumes it survives the testing phase. You just never know.
