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Current mood:A state of caffine-induced bliss
Category: Music
So, I've been taking a little time away from Mello-Drama studios to kind of clear the ol' noodle and come back to everything kind of fresh. Despite the fact that there still is no cover for Fuzzy, and that album 2 is only halfway there, I still say it's damned time for a break. Fact of the matter is, there is more done than even I was prepared for.
I spent the better part of this weekend going through the audio vaults in Mello-Drama, figuring I only had a small handful of songs that, despite a lack of lyrics and my fine-tuned melodious voice, were pretty much complete. I was waaaaaaay off.
Apparently, I have enough of these songs in vocal-less limbo to write 2 more albums without ever having to pick up an instrument or lay down a track. Don't know about you cats, but I think that's pretty damned impressive.
When it comes to the way I work, songs without vocals are essentially done to me. It's at this point where I can stop obsessing on whether or not a certain drum fill is on time, or if the guitar improv at 2:23 is too far out of key to keep. It's at this point, I can sit back and just listen to the song as a whole.
You see, I put very little foresight into song structure when I'm actually writing the damn thing. The process kind of goes as follows:
1. Write a cool-sounding riff.
2. Play around with it until an idea for a chorus pops up.
3.Throw together a bridge out of reused chords and melodies.
4. Make a declaration along these lines, "I will put a (place instrument here) solo in this spot for (number of bars)
5. End it as painlessly as possible.
6. Once the song skeleton is done, add drum fills, accents, and improv parts in places that are repatory.
Aaaaaaaaand done.
Believe it or not, this is the hardest part of the job for me. I spend a lot of time obsessing on everything being in key and proper accents for the drum grooves, and having the instruments in a proper range so they don't overlap and blah blah blah blah blah.
But when that's all done, I get the joy of throwing the song on the ol' MP3 player and getting ultra lazy with it. I listen to it whenever I can. Just kind of let the song filter into my vertebrae, and rape my subconscious. It is in this mellow and relaxed state that the vocals come. A happening vocal line singing a song about something dark, twisted and/or stupid. Give it enough time, and sometimes the whole song can come out in one good listen. Then, it's just a matter of locking myself in the soundbooth and laying it down. A final mixdown, slap on some effects, and a hit is born.
It's an easy-going process that just happens to take a very long time. You can't rush it, I've tried. What I end up with is a bunch of lyrics that sound real stupid (Yes, even compared to the bogus crap I pawn on you cats now.) Y'see, a song has to tell me what story it wants to tell, and I gotta be patient with it.
Granted, I could take the easy way out, and sing songs about hot chicks I never actually dated, and fancy cars I've never been near. Maybe I could even talk about wild parties, manic sex, and being a man of much respect in my 'hood. But come the hell on, I'm no American Idol or some bland TRL fashion victim. I'm the Boogie Man, and if I don't deliver the truth in all it's dark, cynical, and painfully goofy glory, The young shaboogies of the world might lose the cause. Then we'd be down fashion bunghole hell once again.
So I am working people. Despite the fact that the B.G.O has an album that nobody has ever heard completely, and that a follow up is sitting on my hard drive waiting to spread chaos and confusion, things are getting done.
Just let me sit on my ass and do it.
Boogie Man Montoya
8:49 PM
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