Can you describe your song?
- Yes. It goes something like this: tchang tchang tcha tcha tcha tchang (in Am), tchang tchang tcha tcha tcha tchang (in C), tchang tchang tcha tcha tcha tchang (in G, two times). Full chords. That part repeats two times, then enters the voice, singing.
Being more serious, it’s a simple 4 chords song, with lyrics about how easy is it, sometimes, to forget things that were important once, especially, I think, when you are young. Relationships, especially. Sometimes it’s a good thing to not forget so soon, even if it hurts.
I wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the guitar with a friend, Ariel, who is the other guitar player of my band. The good one. He did most of the guitar job.
What inspired you to make it? Do you think it shows?
- I don’t know. Nothing in particular. Thinking about relations, I guess, but also thinking about life in general. It was a long time ago, like 4 years or more. I remember, though, that I “wrote” most of it walking the 10 blocks from university to my house, because I had forgotten a paper that me and my friends had to hand to the professor and I had to go pick it up. Maybe it was that what was easy to forget :P
How was it made? What came first/last? How do your songs normally come about?
- Lyrics came first, along with vocal melody. The vocal melody changed a lot, though, when Ariel worked with it. And they may come any way. Sometimes I start with lyrics, other times just improvising both guitar and vocals, other times I have a part of the guitar or the lyrics, an image, a sentence, a verse, a feeling. There’s not really a way to do it.
As I said, the first part was the lyrics, then the guitar with the vocal melody, then a few rearrangements for the vocals. And I change the song a little almost every time I play it. Which doesn’t happen a lot. It’s important to mark that, despite the fact that I’ll surely play it with my punk band, it’s essentially an acoustic song, that it’s lacking a second guitar playing solos. No drums or bass guitar.
Which instuments/programs did you use? Why?
- Spanish guitar, microphone and Soundforge 5.0 to record. You can’t get simpler than that. Why? Because I’m far from being an expert on the use of computers and recording/edit
ing programs, I had to keep it simple.
What are you most happy with? Why? Least happy with?
- Some parts of the lyrics. I don’t think they are great, but I like the way the come up. “When there’s always another day/your philosophy in this life” I like that. And least happy, depends if it’s about the song or the version. If it’s the version, I have to say about my voice. I don’t like how it sounds, nor I think I can really sing. But I wanted to show the song. About the song in general... well, it’s lacking the solos and maybe we should add some back up voices, for the moment, but I’m quite happy with it. A better version should be available sometime during the next months. Maybe.
Any thing else you want to say about this song?
- Not really. I didn’t even want to say all that, but you forced me, pointing that gun to my head. ( :P - pixie)
Do you think you have a clear style, and how would you describe it?
- Well, I’ve failed on one of the things I tried doing with my lyrics: injecting humor on them. Most seem to be too serious. My style should include some humor, a few acid comments... there’s some of it in some of them, I guess, but not a lot. I’m not sure if I can say I have a style. There are a few subjects that I use a lot, some words that are in most my songs, but that’s just being repetitive, not style. It’s an excellent question. I think I’m gonna discuss it with my psychologist (btw, I don’t have one. I may need one :P ).
Any favourite subjects you turn into music? Any artists/people/things that inspires you?
- The same as most other punk guys out there. Broken relationships, love, the disaster that it is the world where we live, the no future. If it wasn’t because of the late 80s, early 90s, I think there would be no lyrics composed nowadays :P We are all so cool, apathetic and cynical. There’s a song by NoFx that says “It’s so easy to defend the status quo with every one so cool and cynical”. I guess we can discuss the first part (although defending the status quo of what may be a more interesting discussion) but the second part can’t. Then again, I’m not pointing at it as a fault. I think cynicism is a good thing. It’s either that or jumping from a bridge, most of the time.
I’m going off topic. Those are my favorite things to write about. And there are artists that inspire me. There are always. I decided I wanted to make songs while listening to a Mr T Experience album. Maybe it was because I thought “If they can do it, anybody can”. I just picked up the phone and called a friend and said “I have the lyrics, can you make guitars for it?” and we started. Months later I started learning to play.
To make it short (I’m not good to do that, though) I could say that I’m inspired (and uninspired) by everything. And influenced by MTX (obviously), Green Day, The Cure, Oasis, The Clash, Foo Fighters. And, we could retrace it then to The Beatles, and then to Chuck Berry and so and so. That doesn’t necessarily shows on my songs, but it is there.
What does your musical history look like? How did it start?
- Looks like an ugly mistake!
I just told you how it started on the previous question! Aren’t you listening to me?
Of course, I already liked lots of bands and I had even sang a song during the show of some friends (Lagwagon’s “Alien 8”). That was fun. *sings * Would it make you feel much better/if it was you against the world/if you were an alien/if there were conspiracy *
A favourite instrument? Can you play it?
- Guitar, of course. And the bass guitar is loveable too. I could even point at one particular guitar: Dave Grohl’s transparent guitar. It’s amazing. I’m in love with that guitar, because it is actually transparent, not just translucent. I think it’s a Fender. It’s shaped as a Stratocaster, that’s sure. Looks amazing. I want it, so you know what to give me for my birthday.
I can play a little guitar, as you would know if you had listened to the song. But I can’t play Dave’s guitar because he won’t let me borrow it. The fact that he doesn’t know I exist may play a part on that, though.
What would you wish for from the music-faerie?
- She should check the previous answer for clues.
Any future plans/aspirations?
- Yeah. I’m slowly starting a new band with the guy who collaborated on “Easy”. We get along really well, so it’s a real pleasure. We have drummer and bass player and, even though we don’t know them as well as we know each other, we are starting to create bonds and such, after two rehearsals. It’s a punk rock band, and soon I’ll be uploading songs here. We have 5 almost ready songs and we’ll be preparing a few more in the next couple weeks. One of the songs is a different version of “Prelude To Craziness”, song that I played with my old band AboutBlank and that can be found on my songs.
Also, there’s a chance that AboutBlank may not be totally dead. We’ll see what happens, around February. In any case, if it comes back to life, it’ll be in a totally different shape, with 2 guitars and surely two singers... none of the two can sing. But it’s just for fun, so it’s ok.
A big thank you to [Patricio] for letting us feature him! (Even if we couldn't put up the Spongebob picture)
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