"Picture Yourself" video

Over the weekend, my cousin Kris and I filmed the music video for "Picture Yourself." We did this at my new place in San Jose----I wanted to get some footage of the place before I started moving everything in. I suppose it's appropriate because the song talks about future events, and this empty apartment is going to be filled with objects from the future.

Freight & Salvage open mic

On Tuesday night, Maya, Steven, Ciana and Kate played at the Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse's open mic. We went on stage at around 10:30, Maya delivered a great introduction for us, and we played "Picture Yourself" and "My Kind Idea." By the time we played, the audience was a lot smaller than when it opened, but we still got a decent applause. One guy came up to us afterward and told us that we were his "highlight" of the evening. We look forward to playing there again!

Berkeley and Powell Street BART stations

Lisa, Kate and Maya at the Powell Street BART station.

The last few weeks, we have been taking our show to the public. On the evening of the 11th, we went to the Berkeley BART station and played until we were too tired/hungry to continue. We learned that we should start playing our high-energy songs right when a BART train pulls into the station and brings us a large crowd. We got the best audience reaction from "Siki, Siki Baba."

Tonight (Halloween night!), we played at the Powell Street station. At first, we played outside, where we were up against a "Thriller" dance number, the police and a fight between two homeless people. Then, we moved it indoors to the corridor between the two ticket machine areas (there were other musicians at the prime locations). We ran through our set list a couple times, and played a few songs we hadn't played for a long time, including "Jambalaya" and "The Sound of Silence." A fellow busking group stopped by and listened to "Scenic World" and "Pompeii," calling the former a "refreshing" song and the latter "a blend of pop, rock and even a little bit of soul."

Live Oak Park

On Sunday, it was Kate, Lisa, Steven, Ciana, Russ and Devin. We played our set. Somebody gave us chips and cookies. And we had a little debate about whether to invoke "Twist and Shout" at the end of the "Dead Parents" bridge.

Dolores Park

We played at Dolores Park on Sunday to celebrate Maya's birthday. Russ, Ciana, Steven, Lisa and Maya were there. In addition to our regular set, we worked on "Night Life," "Parish," and a cover of "Eleanor Rigby."

How to mic our band

Here's something to consider about regarding our live sound: using a single condenser mic for vocals and multiple instruments. The linked article says,

This “old fashioned” technique has made a comeback; for example, many bluegrass and folk bands utilize the one-mic method with surprisingly good result, typically using a large diaphragm cardioid condenser . . .

One obvious advantage of the single-mic technique is that the stage looks cleaner. Gone is the forest of mic stands, booms and cables.

Instead, you have a low-tech, old-fashioned look that fits in well with the music. Setup is much quicker as well: just place the mic, plug it in, adjust position, and you’re done.

So I'm thinking it might be worth getting this vintage-looking condenser mic. I'm guessing we should have two of these shared mics during our performances; three of us can huddle around one mic. I already have one condenser mic and a dynamic mic (less sensitive) that we can use, too. If we figure out a setup, then we can go confidently into any venue and just plug in and play, just making sure that the speakers are placed in front of us, so we don't feed back.

Bird Noises

BP/P is now on twitter. We'll use it to keep you informed about when, where and how awesome our practice/parties are. That way you can come and listen!

Find us at: @swarthynoise

http://twitter.com/swarthynoise

Pictures from the Vasona gig

As reported in an earlier post, we played a show at Steven's company picnic at the Vasona Park. Here are the pictures from that event:

Warming up before the show.

This gentle slope worked quite nicely for our first step towards the Greek Theatre.

We need to get Devin a keyboard stand!

This is from our performance of "Nightclub Desperado." Devin's holding the sheet music because it wouldn't stay on the music stand.

Lisa's Garden Party

Russ and Ciana are back!

Today, we attended Lisa's Garden Party at Mosswood Park. Lisa, Russ, Ciana, Steven, Tani and Maya were present. We played through our usual set and resurrected some old tunes from Russ. Our friends were there to cheer us along. And there was a lot of food.

"Twenty-Five" video: a little thought bubble

Inside this bubble our bicycle rider will be thinking about 25 and all that it means...

Updated 9/4/2009: Added a speed limit sign to the beginning.

"Twenty-Five" video progress

Check this out, I built a light box using a cookie tin box, a piece of glass from a picture frame, some duct tape, a ruler, and a portable fluorescent light! This device is going to help me with tracing the animation for the "Twenty-Five" video.


And here are the first seven seconds of the video:

Vasona Park

Today, Vijay, Devin and I played at my company's picnic at Vasona Park in Los Gatos. Didn't bring my camera because it was having a technical issue this morning, but I'll try to get some photos from my coworkers and post them here.

Great fun was had by all. Our audience was constantly changing, but during some songs there were about 30 people who watched us. Highlight has to be the "audience participation" portion when we handed out all our percussion instruments and had the audience members play or clap their hands to "Scenic World" and "Siki, Siki Baba."

The set list: 1. Picture Yourself, 2. Airplanes, 3. Pompeii, 4. Twenty-Five, 5. Marcher, 6. Nightclub Desperado, 7. Idea, 8. The Unqualified Opinion (The Auditing Song), 9. Scenic World, 10. Siki, Siki Baba. Encore: The Unqualified Opinion.

After the show, Devin and I went for a ride on Vasona Park's Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad. That was a blast.

This was Vijay's last band practice/party with us before heading back to school. Thanks for playing with us and we hope to see you again soon!

"Sylvia" music video

Here's our official music video for "Sylvia", using NASA footage from the latest space shuttle mission.

San Jose Municipal Rose Garden

A view of the fountain at the center of the Rose Garden.

This was our first practice at San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, and by some happy coincidence, we ran into a meeting of the Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association, an organization best described as Band Practice/Party with several dozen older musicians.

What BP/P might look like in 30 years.

We took over a picnic table off to the side of the SCVFA meeting, but soon attracted the attention of folks who might not be used to seeing a group of twenty-somethings rocking out on a variety of acoustic instruments.

This guy is seriously rockin' out on the recorder.

Vijay and our guest fiddler.

Steven, Vijay, Kate and Devin practiced our set for the show at Steven's company picnic on August 15. We also played "Siki, Siki Baba" in response to a request for mariachi music. (I guess we figured that Balkan brass band music is close enough...)

A familiar sight at a Band Practice/Party. That ukulele belongs to Kate.

We had a jam session with a guy who played some pretty intense violin solos in the key of D. Then, Devin and Steven got sidetracked into a jam of The Who's Tommy. Kate played and sang a couple of folk songs on her ukulele. Finally, we found ourselves playing Beatles tunes, including "I Feel Fine" and "We Can Work It Out."

That's Devin with his harmonium.

"Airplane"

We've been playing "Airplane" for a while, so I thought I'd post a recording of it. For some reason, I felt like going all out with this particular arrangement. This recording uses different sounds from my keyboard and synthesizer, tons of echo, double-tracked lead vocals and three-part harmonies.

When we play it live, Lisa plays the three-note figure at the end of each line on her banjo, Devin and Maya play the long notes, and I play the guitar.

The melody to "Airplane" came to me in May when I was at home building a replica of Damien Hirst's "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living." Funny where you get your inspiration from. As I recall, the lyrics came soon afterwards and weren't difficult to write. I've been wanting to write songs that didn't have a particular message, but just painted a picture. I decided to make this one about an overnight, probably international, flight. Possibly going to, or coming back from, a honeymoon.

Kate pointed out during a recent band practice that "Airplane" uses the same chord progression as Sixpence None The Richer's 1997 hit, "Kiss Me." I'm okay with that, because I happen to be a big fan of that song. In fact, I think we should play the two songs back-to-back.

Lyrics:

You and I
Oh my
An airplane
Red eye
A glass of
Cabernet
A glass of
Champagne

The outside
Late night
A plastic
Spotlight
The cabin
A cradle
The engines
White noise

(instrumental)

You and me
So sweet
In soft clouds
In dreams
Your head on
My shoulder
My head on
Yours

(instrumental)

Kite Festival

Steven, Maya, Vijay and Kate played at the Cesar Chavez Park today during the Berkeley Kite Festival. Played through our set and started working on a cover of "I Feel Fine" by the Beatles.

"Dead Parents"

Russ offers his thoughts on "Dead Parents":

Firstly, I have a terrible memory, so this is likely to be more storytelling than anything actually that happened. "Dead Parents" was a slog of a song. From the beginning, it was a combination of a poppy hook and hyperbolically depressing lyrics. A sob story love song. After the initial riff and some bits were written the band jammed around with the song on a number of occasions. Every time we played it we came up with some amazingly innovative way of juxtaposing poppy harmonies or 80s era hand claps with increasingly somber lyrics. And as many times we forgot or misremembered all the parts we had written. It was a jumble, a mangle, a song trying to find its adequate expression amidst a number of interested and differing parties. And with only shabby direction from the initial song writer.

Even this recording is just one more version of the song. The this-time-recording. Now Devin's mandolin riff gets to rollick along with our young lovers in their depressing escapades. But the song would be nothing without the hand claps.

The lyrics start us off in an unequivocally sad moment. Maybe there isn't a good reason for this, but there is certainly a power in hyperbole. What it occasions is an odd moment for two people to meet, a moment for the girl to assert radical independence, an independence that will be undercut but only on the terms of this newly emerging relationship. Otherwise the song is full of teenage, love-lorn longing. Midnights spent pacing streets alone when it feels like rain even when there hasn't been rain. Days spent next to phones and ringing phones that you can't pick up. Romance and obsession. In the end it is a look at hyperbole in love and the fragile, tenuous "out of sight" that can still manage to persist within it.

Who played on the recording? Russ (lead vocals, guitar, mandolin); Steven (guitar, backing vocals, percussion, melodica, handclaps); Lisa (handclaps); Molly (backing vocals, handclaps); Maya (viola, handclaps); Devin (lead mandolin); Hilary (cello)

Lyrics:

I met you the day that both your parents had died
You leaned into me and told me that you’d never cry
That all that you’d ever needed you had inside
I am to admit, I certainly sounded like lies

(Chorus)
All I needed to know
And all I had left to show
Was the look in your eyes
The dream in your mind
And I wanted to be
And I wanted to see
All you could be
All that you are
Wanted you more
Than I know you are
You are the heart
You are the land
The only girl
That I could stand

I was lonely, on my own
You’re the only, one I phoned
Deep in my heart I was calling out for your love
So I wandered the streets until I had had enough.

(Chorus)

You’re the one that got this right
All we have is one more night
You and me and the out of sight
All we have is one more night
To get it right.

You were always, on your own
But when I called up, no one’s home
Nobody loves you like I said that I would
Nobody loves like that, nobody could.

(Chorus)

"The Drifter"

"The Drifter" is about somebody who wanders home the day after an extremely hard night of partying. This is not something I've experienced, so I can't say I really connect with the song. Also, I never really liked the way the music turned out. However, it is included on the album at the insistence of my bandmates who think this is a great song.

I wrote the music near the end of March 2008. The yodeling part was inspired by "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music. After I finished the music, I wrote some filler lyrics in five minutes, and recorded a demo for the band. At the time, Lisa had been raving to me about the remarkable life of Stede Bonnet, so I thought, maybe I could turn it into a pirate song. The song went like this:

When I was in town
A rich and favored child
I was sentenced to be loved and forgotten
My stuffy civil life
With oh my nagging wife
I desired more of an adventure

So I gathered up a crew and leased a boat
And then, we set sail from the coast
Towards Aruba, Martinique, and Kokomo
We're sure to put on quite a show

[instrumental]

This week we'll plunder five
In my matching suit and tie
We'll show them what nobility's made of

We're the pirates from a new and fancy mold
With cannons plated in gold
If you work for me, ten coins I will bestow
On you, everyday we're afloat

Yo-ho, lay-ee-oo...

I've seventy hired men
I manage now and then
When I'm not below heating my kettle
Would they ever leave?
That's a silly inquiry.
They have got the brawns, but I've got the money

So we sail into the waves of history
And we'll do this articulately
If they say I'm weak, well, fine, just let them say
But my friend, Blackbeard, will shut them away

Yo-ho, lay-ee-oo...

Despite such great lines as "They have got the brawns, but I've got the money," we decided that the original set of lyrics were stronger. I tweaked them a bit to form a story, and then brought it to rehearsal. There was a bit of a group effort on the arrangement: Ciana and Russ figured out the "Egyptian" countermelody during the chorus, Devin wrote the trumpet lines at the beginning of the song, and Molly wrote her vocal harmonies.

As fun as it was to play, "The Drifter" is really not my best songwriting, and I thought it was sometimes repetitive and boring. So, I decided to make it a little silly, and loaded it up with sound effects like the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine." I brought in my friend Hana to play a harp line to transition from the bridge back to the verse.

Who played on the recording? Steven (lead vocals, guitar, percussion, melodica); Molly (backing vocals); Maya (viola); Devin (trumpet); Hilary (cello); Hana (harp)

Lyrics:

The night I wasn't home
I was a little stoned
I was tripping out to the beat of a disco
Whatever happened next
I bet it was complex
I woke up in the heart of San Francisco

With me and you and everyone we know
From all of the places we've found
All the smiles and eyes and sparks from long ago
They spun like a merry-go-round

I walked along the shore
I walked along some more
I found it hard to talk and hard to swallow

With me and you, and people I don't know
We played on this big haunted ground
All the smiles and eyes and sparks from long ago
They spun like a merry-go-round

Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh

Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh

So then I reached the park
As it was getting dark
I was introduced to a stomach in peril
My senses came to light
As the world sank out of sight
I found my rented home in a street oh-so-narrow

Oh me and you and everyone we know
Flew out of the old lost and found
All the smiles and eyes and sparks from long ago
They spun like a merry-go-round

Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh

Yodel lay, yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee, yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee, yodel lay ee ooh

"Frankenstein"

"Frankenstein" was the first original song for Band Practice/Party! Designed to be easy to play, the song uses only four chords: G, C, F, and D. Over and over again. I guess I was also being influenced by Beirut, who uses a lot of simple chord progressions.

The lyrics are based on Mary Shelley's horror novel Frankenstein. In particular, I wanted to capture the moment that Frankenstein (the scientist) created the monster.

It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open...

So that's the beginning of Volume I, Chapter IV, which our Verse 1 is based on. Frankenstein had just spent the last two years working hard at creating life, and this is the culmination of his labors. Right now, he's thinking,

How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endeavoured to form?

Well, Frankenstein, you can pick up a guitar and start singing this song.

I think it would be appropriate to film our music video at the Albany Bulb, a park that has a lot of artwork cobbled together from junk. I thought about doing it as a live performance (like La Blogotheque), but the strong winds would probably make that impossible.

Who played on the recording? Steven (lead vocals, guitar, percussion, toy piano); Russ (mandolin); Ciana (accordion); Lisa (banjulele); Molly (backing vocals, ukulele); Vijay (violin); Devin (trumpet)

Lyrics:

A wintry day of dismal rain,
Falala, it falls against
The window panes, the withered stains,
Tralala, the spark of feeling anew!

I have been waiting all this time to make you mine,
I have been waiting all this time.

So young and fine, sublime, divine
Are the words I’d use to tell
About my pride, synthetic bride--
Weialala, a portrait of my mind!

I have been waiting all this time to make your face come alive,
I have been waiting all this time as time goes by.

Everyday I live to bring me closer to you,
And through the window nature looks so heavenly,
But nothing compares to the beauty of my dream.

I have been waiting (all this time)
I have been waiting (all this time)
I have been waiting all this time. (I have been waiting.)
I have been waiting (all this time)
I have been waiting (all this time),
I have been waiting all this time to make you mine.

"Sylvia"

This is a lullaby for children of the future. "Sylvia" is named for Sylvia Plath, one of my favorite writers.

The music came to me while I was riding a bus to work one day in January 2008. I had to scramble to write it down after arriving at the office, before I forgot everything.

Here's our official music video for "Sylvia", using NASA footage from the latest space shuttle mission.



Who played on the recording? Steven (lead and backing vocals, guitar, percussion); Russ (mandolin); Hilary (cello); Lisa (banjo, glockenspiel); Molly (ukulele); Maya (viola); Devin (trumpet)

Lyrics:

Smile, Sylvia
I don’t know when I’ll love again
But smile as you fly around the planet smile
As you count another year
Smile, Sylvia
The books I’ve read will come again
Alive, curious and waiting to be
Know your letters A to Z
Baby

Life, Sylvia
Won’t be so bad, won’t be so sad
Life if you stop and play in the middle of strife
If you sing a song when something’s awry
Sing

If they hurt you no matter how they try
If they push you there’s no need to comply
Turn the world upside down
And then you’ve found it
Go to sleep and

Smile, Sylvia
I don’t know when I’ll love again
But smile as you fly around the planet smile
As you count another year
Smile, baby, smile

"Marcher"

"Marcher" is based on the novella The Beast in the Jungle by Henry James. I don't want to give away the story in case you want to read it, so I'll just talk about how the song came into being.

It was the autumn of 2007 and Band Practice/Party needed more original songs. We already had "Frankenstein," but I wanted to write a song that everybody could play a unique part on. I was messing about with E and whatever the chord is that looks like an open E but is two frets higher. I was listening to Stereolab's The First of the Microbe Hunters at the time, and I really liked the song "Intervals" because of its strange descending melody at the beginning. In fact, I've always been fascinated by descending melodies, including "Teardrop" by Massive Attack and "Weird Divide" by The Shins. So I wanted to write my own. The "bap bap" countermelody came afterwards, as I was trying to make it sound like Stereolab.

I sent the instrumental over to Lisa, who said it sounded like two people sitting on a car by a beach. Somehow that got me thinking about this story that I had read for English 45C. I remember reading The Beast in the Jungle during lunch time one Wednesday afternoon in 2003, on a bench in front of Sproul Hall. I remember this, because I was so moved by this novella that it sealed the deal for me to be an English major. So, in a way, you have to thank John Bishop for making this song possible. Anyway, I wrote the lyrics from the point of view of John Marcher, the protagonist of the story.

The music video will feature Russ playing the role of Marcher. I'd like to have it so that Marcher is wandering around town. It would be nice to have it in Berkeley, so that some of us Cal alums can have this footage for nostalgic purposes later. There will also be a few seconds of us playing in the park. At the end of the video, Marcher reaches his destination, which turns out to be a cemetery. "May, now I feel you..."

Who played on the recording? Steven (lead vocals, guitar, percussion); Russ (mandolin); Ciana (accordion); Lisa (bicycle bell); Molly (backing vocals, claves); Vijay (violin); Devin (trumpet)

Lyrics:

Drawn together young embraces
Sat like loveless seeds who perish
You remember, May, when we were young
Found us in the cool November sun

I sensed something looming towards me
Vaguely, just beyond my arm’s reach
Oh, won’t you watch with me?
Oh, won’t you watch with me?
I drift like a ghost through a fate that I keep holding on

Long nights we stayed up in sentry
Gazing, playing, side by side we
Saw the joy that passion could have brought
Lost the joy that passion would have sought
May, now I feel you, my tears fall in vain on your tomb

"My Kind Idea"

"My Kind Idea" is a love song. I guess you could also call it my idea of a good time. The lyrics were easy to write, because they simply describe some of my favorite things: drinking tea, staying in, and wandering outside.

Like many of my songs, the music came first, and the filler lyrics that went along with it were: "That old sun, lucky lucky lucky sun." (I wrote the music early February 2008, shortly after Brian Wilson debuted his new album That Lucky Old Sun in London.) The melody is strange and uses some difficult intervals, including a tritone during the "ooh" parts. It's definitely no nursery rhyme. And the chords are a bit chromatic----for example, the verses switch between A minor and G# major. I'm not sure what possessed me to write this kind of music.

The recording is pretty amazing. Please listen to it.

I would like the music video to portray the construction of a Lego set. Particularly this one. The idea is that building a Lego model is one of the coolest things you can do at home when you want to be away from the nightclubs, bars and disco lights.

Who played on the recording? Steven (lead vocals, guitar, percussion); Russ (mandolin); Hilary (cello); Molly (ukulele, backing vocals); Maya (viola); Devin (trumpet)

Lyrics:

As we walk into a room of freezing cold
You laugh and say hello my friend
My fear my kind idea
And I brew a kettle drumming tea for you
Yellow foggy silver blue
I feel its sweet appeal
And you in the armchair all alone
Ooh, tell me something about the past decade
Of blue and the monochrome tube
We can swing and rock till
We both have had our fill
Of time and of space and of fun
But we know we will never be done

The nightclubs and bars and disco lights
Ooh, don’t compel us
As much as our habit of
Staying up talking all night
As I fell into your arms
Fallen out of harm
The charm of a dream of mixed rhymes
And the fancied invention of lines

Later on, the sun is in the room again
Chased away the moon again
The mirror is frosty dear
In a daze, gentle wind a warm embrace
And everything is in its place
So near come for me here
The Sunday review is on the lawn
Ooh, we should go out, see what it’s all about
The bricks in the old custom house
We can stop and wonder
In front of a window of a shop
That is closed for the day
And the sights that we’ll see on the way

"Twenty-Five"

Superficially, "Twenty-Five" is a shameless imitation of the educational cartoon Schoolhouse Rock! I can even tell you specifically that I had the episode "Figure Eight" in mind when I wrote it. Putting all that aside, "Twenty-Five" is a song that has a lot of meaning to me, and I think it stands very well on its own. Basically, what the lyrics are trying to say is that "age is just a number," and therefore we have the verses that say, "Well, 25 is just this and that, it's just 5 times 5, and so on." But then, you shift to the point of view of somebody who's just reached this milestone in life, is bewildered by adulthood, and still feels like a child.

Based on the timestamps on my demo recordings, this song actually took two months to write. The music came to me about two weeks after my 25th birthday, but I only had filler lyrics that went, "Marigolds, here they come, la la la la..." It subsequently sat on the shelf while I entered a not-so-creative phase that resulted in "The Drifter," also known as "Yodel." When I went back to work on "Marigolds," I decided to make it like a girl-guy duet, kind of like Blonde Redhead, one of my favorite bands. Finally, something inspired me to write the lyrics that became "Twenty-Five."

A lot of the arrangement was worked out in Molly's backyard during June 2008. Noah gets credit here for the "ooh" and doubling harmonies throughout the song. Molly's voice is perfect for this song, and she does a great job with it.

If you ever catch us live, listen for a little surprise at the end.

For the music video, I'd like to make a cartoon in the style of Schoolhouse Rock! A few months back, I drew storyboards for this video, but haven't had time to do any more work. Anyone know of an animator who can help bring this video into reality?

Who played on the recording? Steven (lead and backing vocals, guitar, percussion); Molly (lead and backing vocals, ukulele); Russ (mandolin); Hilary (cello); Maya (viola).

Lyrics:

Twenty-five, or two and five
Spelled with two prime numbers
Twenty-five, or five times five
And sum of two square numbers
Twenty-five, la la la
Five more than a full score
If you count by fountain pen
Count five groups of tallies

Suddenly I found myself beginning to sit still
Suddenly I found that I was picking up the bill
Yet my scribbles from so long ago still send me chills
Still send me chills

Twenty-five is silver, please
When it's my anniversary
Twenty-five is manganese
If you're into chemistry
Twenty-five is a quarter of
The big old sum one hundred
Twenty-five is the quarter coin
The head of our first president

Dusting off my old Nintendo really made me feel
Like those days I weren't in charge of making any deals
They assure me, son, you ain't seen half of what is fun
They say I'm still young

Twenty-five golden rings
On five lucky hands they fit
And every year, many like
This day in December

"Picture Yourself"

It's been almost a year since I wrote "Picture" one night after work. I was listening to the Kinks at the time, and I guess this was an attempt to write my own "Village Green", complete with things I remember from my own childhood. I did take some artistic license with that----for instance, I never lived in a house with a white picket fence. There are also things I borrowed from other peoples' lives, such as the family photos hanging above a seldom-used piano. But you get the idea, this is a song about a comfortable suburban upbringing, and the passing on thereof to the children. It could also be about aging... in fact, I remember being really moved by the last verse which alludes to the speaker as an old man. The very last line was originally "Make my living worthwhile," but I thought that was way too sad, and so I changed it to repeat the previous line, "Remember them with a smile."

I must have been feeling lazy that night, because the chords are very simple (no barre chords), and it's just one verse-chorus after another. I think it's catchy, though, and it's still fun to play. It's true, I play a Hohner acoustic guitar, but it'll be a while before it becomes vintage.

For the music video, I'm thinking of walking down the street in a suburban-looking location with wide streets, nice houses, and no traffic. Something like this location in Pleasanton, CA. Probably just a continuous shot of me miming to the song, like this video.

Who played on the recording? Steven (lead vocals, guitar, melodica, percussion); Lisa (glockenspiel); Russ (guitar); Hilary (cello, backing vocals); Molly (ukulele, backing vocals); Maya (viola); Devin (French horn)

Lyrics:

Picture yourself one day you’re married
With a home and job and family
And children running around
White picket fence and Reader’s Digest
A Sunday Mass to feel blessed
In this familiar town

All those things I knew so well,
All those things I lived back then
I miss those simple, carefree days,
Will I live them through again?

Picture yourself one day you’re driving
Screaming kids on the highway
On the way out of state
Not quite the trip that Kerouac spoke of
But you’ve got to take good care of
The things you wanted so much

All those things I knew so well,
All those things I lived back then
I miss those simple, carefree days,
Will I live them through again?

Picture yourself one day you’re happy
With a grand piano that will
Sit for seventy years
A portrait of Mum and Dad and Junior
Still looks young and rosy
On his wedding day

All those things they knew so well,
All those things they lived back then
I miss those simple, carefree days,
Will I live them through again?

Out on the porch there you’ll be strumming
A vintage Hohner acoustic
You picked up long ago
That you were playing since you were twenty
Songs of hope and of promise
Remember them with a smile
Remember them with a smile
Remember them with a smile

Gold mine

Oh my god.

I was being good and trying to work on our BP/P album art and look what I found. It's only exactly what I've always wanted -- an awesome site with free font downloads. And Not Only That. It lets you custom preview the words you're trying to write so you can see if it's the look you're going for before you download and install. Genius!

I even figured out how to install new fonts on this computer! I think a little more font shopping, some ink drawings, a date with Aron's scanner, and we'll have album art. At long last!

The making of the "Twenty-Five" video (Part 1)

This rough animation is the beginning of our "Twenty-Five" music video.



Eventually, I'm hoping it'll look like this:

Black Magic Voodoo Lounge

Lisa, Maya and Steven played at the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge's open mic tonight. This is our first set with microphones, PA and a monitor! We would like to thank Ray, the host, for letting us play the following set:

1. Marcher
2. Idea
3. Sylvia
4. Scenic World (Beirut cover)
5. Twenty-Five
6. Picture Yourself
7. Frankenstein

Yodel

Last song to be released from the November sessions! Hear it on the facebook.

The night I wasn't home
I was a little stoned
I was tripping out to the beat of a disco
Whatever happened next
I bet it was complex
I woke up in the heart of San Francisco

With me and you and everyone we know
From all of the places we've found
All the smiles and eyes and sparks from long ago
They spun like a merry-go-round

I walked along the shore
I walked along some more
I found it hard to talk and hard to swallow

With me and you, and people I don't know
We played on this big haunted ground
All the smiles and eyes and sparks from long ago
They spun like a merry-go-round

Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh

Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh

So then I reached the park
As it was getting dark
I was introduced to a stomach in peril
My senses came to light
As the world sank out of sight
I found my rented home in a street oh-so-narrow

Oh me and you and everyone we know
Flew out of the old lost and found
All the smiles and eyes and sparks from long ago
They spun like a merry-go-round

Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee ooh

Yodel lay, yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee, yodel lay ee ooh
Yodel lay ee, yodel lay ee ooh

Idea

The fifth song from our November sessions. Steven and Molly are the singers. Listen on our Facebook page.

As we walk into a room of freezing cold
You laugh and say hello my friend
My fear my kind idea
And I brew a kettle drumming tea for you
Yellow foggy silver blue
I feel its sweet appeal
And you in the armchair all alone
Ooh, tell me something about the past decade
Of blue and the monochrome tube
We can swing and rock till
We both have had our fill
Of time and of space and of fun
But we know we will never be done

The nightclubs and bars and disco lights
Ooh, don’t compel us
As much as our habit of
Staying up talking all night
As I fell into your arms
Fallen out of harm
The charm of a dream of mixed rhymes
And the fancied invention of lines

Later on, the sun is in the room again
Chased away the moon again
The mirror is frosty dear
In a daze, gentle wind a warm embrace
And everything is in its place
So near come for me here
The Sunday review is on the lawn
Ooh, we should go out, see what it’s all about
The bricks in the old custom house
We can stop and wonder
In front of a window of a shop
That is closed for the day
And the sights that we’ll see on the way

Picture Yourself

Picture yourself one day you’re married
With a home and job and family
And children running around
White picket fence and Reader’s Digest
A Sunday Mass to feel blessed
In this familiar town

All those things I knew so well,
All those things I lived back then
I miss those simple, carefree days,
Will I live them through again?

Picture yourself one day you’re driving
Screaming kids on the highway
On the way out of state
Not quite the trip that Kerouac spoke of
But you’ve got to take good care of
The things you wanted so much

All those things I knew so well,
All those things I lived back then
I miss those simple, carefree days,
Will I live them through again?

Picture yourself one day you’re happy
With a grand piano that will
Sit for seventy years
A portrait of Mum and Dad and Junior
Still looks young and rosy
On his wedding day

All those things they knew so well,
All those things they lived back then
I miss those simple, carefree days,
Will I live them through again?

Out on the porch there you’ll be strumming
A vintage Hohner acoustic
You picked up long ago
That you were playing since you were twenty
Songs of hope and of promise
Remember them with a smile
Remember them with a smile
Remember them with a smile

Viva block prints!

With all the November recordings coming together, we're starting to have thoughts about throwing together a lil demo cd, which will of course need art, and I thought this cover for the Glasvegas album (out this week!) was pretty cool. I like the Starry Night-ness of the sky along with the rubber cut-able contrast. The style is not that unlike some of our other art and gives me the inspired feeling.

Keep an eye out for our demo and give us a holler if you'd like one :)

ps. happy new year!