Tone Home
I’ve spent the past few days knocking a bunch of stuff around in the studio attempting to knock out some Soundscaped versions of Pack Animal poems, but mostly redefining the direction I will be taking in my live shows over the next six months. My first two attempts at giving the poem “Giving Up” a new look have resulted in music for yet, unwritten poems. This will most likely become the fodder for my upcoming CD, maybe. For sure though, this stuff will become part of the driving force behind where I want my live shows to go. I want more energy than a simple “poetry reading” can produce.
The first piece of music is an old school retro sounding funk piece. I’ll be writing the poem strictly to the drums and bass I already have and once the poem is done, I’ll be putting in the guitars, horns and such. For inspiration on this one, I’m knocking around some of the production techniques of Mark Ronson (the producer of Amy Winehouse), ?uestlove’s take on Al Green’s retro, yet updated sound on “Lay It Down”, the stylings of the dude’s that did the music on the movie “Revolver” (I can’t remember their names at the moment), Erykah Badu’s various live funk stylings and some of the stuff used by the producers on her newest CD and a variety of other funksters that hearken back to the old days while mixing in some current methods of production ideas. Of course, my own ideas will filter the whole mix.
The second piece is a rhythmic bit that reminds me of Tool’s “Die Eier Von Satan” a bit. Percussion driven in my case though, where the poem will push over the top not unlike the way Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine has been known to attack a track. There is a bit of Nine Inch Nails in there too. A lot of glitch-type stuff is working its way into how I pull a rhythm together. How much will stay in the final mix is up for question, but it is certainly a big part of the building process.
Today, after the day job, though. I prepare for tomorrow where I tape my second round on the local access TV program “Spending a Little Time With Poetry”. The studio gets a two day break.
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