JohnJayJay · Guilty Pleasure

So this is what I've been doing for about the last week or so. Basically this is an amalgamation of every musical "guilty pleasure" I've ever had. Euro disco/Giorgio Moroder, Duran Duran, moog synths, and layers and layers of shoegaze guitar (I maxed out my Mac making this...almost crashed it). I played my StingRay bass on this...I haven't played it in over 25 years. I forgot what a nice growl it has! (but it's a bit of a beast compared to my Fender P;)

New song...I know, been away for a year...

So, been away for a year...but I'm still around.  Moved to the coast (was time to get out of the valley heat).  Anywhoo...the title of the song, "Nine Sisters", is reference to where I now live...and the pic above are some of those Nine Sisters (if you look it up, you can learn about it...volcanic morro's...yadda yadda yadda).  Bass was a little muddy at intro, but I cleaned it up as best I could.  The second part/end of song was inspired by Echo and the Bunnymen by the way...and yes, another instrumental!

So, I recorded this song a little while ago with the idea for a story, and the song became a sort of soundtrack in my head as I put it together. Well, just for kicks I put some imagery to it...which necessitated changing the story a bit. The story now: A "fixer" gets hired to eliminate a target...a young woman. He's not told why, just that it needs to be done, and he needs to leave town as soon as the job is completed. He's given his up-front money, a stolen pistol, a fake passport, and the address and a picture of his target. He travels to San Francisco and follows her throughout the city and back to her apartment, where he plans to finish the job. However, this is no ordinary young woman, and she's waiting in ambush for him (she was obviously tipped off to his presence). A bloody exchange happens, and the fixer heads for the north coast to escape and heal his wounds. The woman's fate is unknown. Revenge on his mind, the fixer heads back to the city, and finds the man (a Russian mob boss) who hired him at his downtown club. The mobster practically ignores him stating "I was hoping the both of you would take each other out...but I see you're still with us. Congratulations. Now get out ...before I finish my oysters." The mobster arrogantly goes back to his dinner and figures the man he hired will be on the run and fearing for his life...and won't dare to retaliate (such is the mobster's reputation). The fixer stares at the mobster a moment longer, and then quietly walks out of the club and waits in the shadows across the street for the mobster to finish his dinner and get into his car. The fixer sees his revenge complete, leaves town, and puts that fake passport and money to use. Anyways, I only spent a few hours looking for public domain photos to use, so I didn't really geek out on this, it was merely a pleasant diversion. But, I still think it came out fairly well considering the self imposed limitations (like having to use one photo of a toy pistol, for instance;)

New Song: Red Sunset, Green Flash (updated May 18, 2014)

Tried to write a "happy song" (I used a major key and everything), but, like most of my stuff, it turned out to have a wistful quality. I guess a leopard cannot change his spots. This is an amalgamation of everything I like: jingle jangle, endless layers of guitars (I think I melted my CPU...), strings, and even a semi-groovy section (hey, bass is my primary thang). All my influences are here: The Church, U2, and even a little Andy Rourke bass...and some Lush too. This also has some soaring orchestral qualities, and I think the bridge is rather pretty. Mixed to be played loud, and please, use headphones!

(So, after repeated listenings I heard some things I wanted to change: decay rates of some guitars, try and fix a right side bias, added a small additional guitar track, changed eq parameters, etc. This is probably about as close to what I had imagined as I am going to get. If I keep fiddling with it, I'll screw it up. Anyways, like I said, my attempt at a "happy song" in a major key (G for those curious), with some strings, chiming guitars, and a fun little bass line in the chorus)

Furthermore, it's all about the mix, amiright???? Anyways, can't sing, so instrumental as always. But, loads o' guitars, synths, and looped percussion all created by my little hands and cranium. As usual, with as much emotion as I can infuse. Btw, look up a red sunset-green flash if you're not familiar...

New Song "Histamine"

Pretty much an amalgamation of everything thats ever influenced me…and if I do say so myself, it also has a little, simple guitar riff about a minute into the song (an instrumental) that is pretty addictive.  I called it “Histamine” because I’m on a boatload of meds dealing with that very substance, which has caused me a fair amount of misery the last seven months.  But, I think the psychedelic effect of the Rx I’ve been issued has been good for my art.  So, the suffering hasn’t been in vain…hope you like it. As far as the utter misery of what I've been dealing with for over half a year...that is the subject of another post.  In the meantime, enjoy my little stylistic adventure here...I wrote it to be kind of a smorgasbord of styles that appeal to me, and I thought it gave it something of a trippy, dreamy vibe....

New song...ramp up the Stratocasters baby!

So, I had fun with this one. Found some new drum loops to manipulate. Went for a more organic sound with bridges ever so slightly altered between parts. Was hoping for a "live" sound. Structurally, it's reminiscent of music I used to play in my band way back in my college days. Enjoy. Called "East of Academy".

Another New Song "Inside the Lizard's Brain"

So, way back in the day I used to plass bass guitar in an alt rock band. Then life took over. I recently discovered Garageband on my Mac, blew the dust off my guitars, and started writing some songs. Here they are. No vocals because my voice sounds like a frog being castrated.
Update: I suppose I should comment on the songs a bit (yes, most lack titles...).

-Inside the Lizard Brain. Just having fun with a wall of guitars...going for a hypnotic, spooky sound. Had fun with it.
-Horizon. Made me think of driving on a desert highway headed towards where the sky meets the earth...
-Lunar Plane. How I spent my last weekend in January and my idea of what an alien lullaby beamed from deep space would sound like. Inspired by The Church's Field of Mars. Worked a little ride cymbal in the chorus...my most favorite of cymbals.
-Flanger. My attempt at guitar rock majesty. Song named 'Flanger' for reasons that are obvious to guitar weenies.
-My Song 4: Was going to record a different song last night and made this up on the spot instead...all built around a simple bass line. You just never know what your Muse is gonna do. Again, influences are obvious. I could tweak this more and polish up transitions, but I'm done with it and going to leave "as is". Thank you short attention span.
-Jason James Flint: Music inspired by spy movies, and about as low-fi as you can get with a shitpile of synths. Thank you Steve Kilbey for chord changes inspiration.
-Just Like the Sun: has lyrics, and as usual...it's about a woman. But they're personal, and I can't really sing anyways, so anyways...obvious Catherine Wheel influence, and first song I did on Garageband.
-My Song 3. No title. No words. Living out late 80's early 90's new wave fantasies. Daughters thought it has a tango vibe.
-My song 5. Maybe my favorite. My idea if The Church and Soundgarden had a baby...and that baby grew up and gave birth to The Smiths (ending guitar part a nod to my love of Johnny Marr).
-My Song 2. More alt. rock, new wavey, late 80's inspired stuff. I like this one too.
-Sullivan/Potter (Redux). My nod to U2 and two guys I know who listened to them waaay back in the day. A remixed version of an earlier attempt.
-This Song Has No Name but it Grooves Baby. If disco and shoegaze combined their DNA it might sound like this.
-Altar. My attempt at a little Church inspired jingle jangle. One of my earlier attempts, hence production not as clean as I would like.
-Jumped the Shark. Not a huge fan or aficionado of club music...but thought it would be fun to try. Plus, I got to attempt a middle eastern "Kashmir" type guitar riff...so I got that out of my system as well. Enjoy. (Title says it all!)


Inside the Lizard Brain

Sullivan Potter

Song 4

My Song 3

Flanger

My Song Groove

My Song 2

Jumped the Shark

Horizon

Jason James Flint

Lunar Plane

Altar

My Song 5

Just Like the Sun