A huge underlying concept that we’re constantly mindful of when writing our new album is trusting the listener to understand and comprehend things without a bunch of explanation. If we want to “trim the fat” with the music and especially the lyrics then there needs to be some trust in the listener to be able to fill in the space between the lines. I typically start out writing a part and have about two paragraphs worth of ideas to cram into two to four lines with 8-16 syllables per line. Less words hit harder and i just have to trust you to fill in the details for yourself.
Aside from the trust thing there’s also the delicate balance between artsy and bold with the overall picture we’re creating. Most artists like ourselves who have a diverse catalog of influences want to bring in a little bit of everything and just make one huge pile of everything we love about music. The problem with that is that it can be become too “artsy” or cumbersome and can actually work against the articulation of an idea. The process of layering up then trimming fat is tedious and sucks the life out of me a lot. It’s much like the lyrics where I want to say eighty thousand things but I only have a few short lines to say it in. So we shave off a layer here and shave some notes out of a guitar part there. Then we make the rhythm guitar less choppy and push it down in the mix to make it more subtle and bring a string/synth/pad more to the front to smooth out that middle section, and the bass tone is perfected to be the massive slab of body that holds it all up. More important than anything the drums. Less is always more with all of these layers, but especially the drums. Percussion is the most important part of any music and is the one thing that can make or break the BEST musical arrangements on earth. Not only does a drummer have to be the overall balanced and strong and subtle and dynamic and particular, but a lot of the “trimming the fat” stuff in this area makes the biggest differences on the overall sound. Simply put, less hits equals bigger sound. More hits equals more articulate but less size typically, though there are exceptions sometimes.
So it all just comes down to balancing boldness and articulation for us, and on this new album we’ve been working overtime to make sure we can create the picture we’ve always known we were capable of creating. This LP will be what we consider to be our first and is the recognition of our full potential. We’re excited about this and hope you are too.