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....

Remixed and Reimagined

OK. This is a re-imagining of a song I did a while ago. I added a different (live) drum loop, and some keyboards. It now more closely resembles what I had in mind when I first recorded it. I think of it as a modern interpretation of 1982 Blondie meets Duran Duran. I make no apologies for being a teen in the 80's...enjoy.

Johnny Comes Home by JohnJayJay

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".