Friday, January 30, 2009

Arpeggiators and chorus guitars

Spent the yesterday afternoon working on one of the more experimental and, to it's very extent, challenging songs called Take 45. A quite contradictive song with lyrics about not over-working things and not giving up on your immediate creative ideas to a more "safe, commercial platform". The contradictive about the song is that I've been working on it for really long now and made a lot of takes and trying to make it work and to actually get it somewhere! You could say that it's being over-worked but on the other hand it's musical nature is very much unsafe and unexplored territory for me which is explored carefully and slowly. This song anyway, is quite monotone and sterile if you will. It travels on the basis of a a monotone rythm figure by drums and a synth bass. They serve as some kind of industrial engine along with arpeggio synths, analog pads, conversation samples and of course, mellotron. I just couldn't the "Tron" be. It's a fantastic tool for bringing atmosphere and "human" feel to your work. I actually let the Tron play Cello for once, instead of the usual choir, flute or "yes-strings". Also there's chorus Rush-80's-ish overdrive-guitars in there. Takes you back to Rush's "Grace Under Pressure" from 1984.

Some songs are written and completed in an instant, while others can take years. No rule apply here really, exept for the fact that the songs being written and recorded fast tend to appeal to people more and have more hit potential. However, I think it's crucial for an artist, actor, writer, producer or painter if you will, to stray off into unfamiliar and threatening areas beyond the safe and bullet-proof instances already habiting your studio walls. So maybe that's why this song takes such a long time. Rome wasn't built in a day. Sorry, I just had to use that cliché. To finish off, I've always found the songs that doesn't follow the red line and suddenly wonder off to some weird new place tend to apply much to me. It shows that there is more to the creative force behind the music than just a guy wanting to make safe hits. Safe hits. I like that expression. I think I'm gonna use it in a song.

Over & out,
C

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

News feed so far

2009-01-27
2 new demo songs finally up on myspace! "Dog Sitting" and "The Numbers". I spent the evening building myself some kind of singing booth here in my apartment so I could get rid of the very unsexy natural room-ish reverb my living room generates when I'm recording vocals. Yay, I finally managed to get the vocals down for these two songs that's been laying here for about a year now. About time.

Give myspace the glad hand and check 'em out:
http://www.myspace.com/shermanswe
den

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2009-01-24
Live songs setlist now preliminary set! The band will go into rehearsals in early February.

1. Safe & Sound
2. This City Is Mine
3. Nothing But Love
4. Crossing The Border
5. Wednesday Again
6. Take 45
7. The Numbers
8. Little Sweet One
9. Dog Sitting
10. The Truth Upon These Hands
11. A Duck!
12. Maybe This Time
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2009-01-10
Sherman band members now official!

The "Sherband" currently consists of:
Calle Rydberg - Lead vocals, guitars, keys
Kristofer Padoan - Guitars, vocals
Daniel Boberg - Bass
Andreas Staberg - Drums
Alesis Adat - Keyboards, vocals, samples

Big live premiere date to be added real soon.