Pedestrian zero

Once upon a time we recorded But That’s Just Me…

Posted on by

Did I ever tell you about the time we went and recorded the eighth song in the whole of 2016? Sit tight, I’m gonna.

You might have noticed over the last few months there’s been more ‘featuring’ type songs going on. Well. Two. Anyway, Paul was asking if I’d ever consider letting someone else sing the whole of a Pedestrian zero song. Then I saw a video of Paul busting out some banging vocals on the internet and I rather thought he might have a point.

This song seemed like a great fit. It also seemed like a great time to get in my other strangeday bandmate, AJ, to play some guitar. And oh he did.

The final two players in this great drama are Ant Martin, who is fast becoming a pø stalwart, and Cec Harding, returning for the first pedze track since January.

In terms of a recording day it panned out much as they do these days. Not obscenely early start; drum set up; drum recording; drum pack down; quick drum comp; Ant turns up with snacks (although El had also bought us bacon rolls from Dolly’s Diner); bass recording; overlap with next musician turning up; debate about whether to sneak in acoustic or have lunch; lunch; vocals; hastily improvised backing vocals.

It’s a great time, honestly.

All I ended up doing in the end was acoustic guitar and some ooh/ahh backing vocals in the chorus. Which was very nice. Seeing everyone else make their mark on the track was very gratifying.

And that’s about that really. Great times. Track should be out soonish. In the meantime enjoy a couple of images and a couple of videos in lieu of the photos I didn’t manage to take.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

 

Lyrics – But That’s Just Me…

Posted on by

Man, am I ever behind. We were in the studio for September’s track this weekend past and here I’m posting lyrics for August’s recording. Gosh. Well. We’ll get there. At some point. The track that got recorded in August is a chirpy, almost country-like rock song about being in a relationship.

It’s (for the most part) not autobiographical – as you’d hope. I made up a couple and wrote about them. It’s currently being mastered, so hopefully you’ll be able to hear it relatively soon.

But That’s Just Me…

Stake your claim I don’t want to be
Another stain on your destiny
Was never gonna be a tragedy
I don’t think things through like I ought to
But that’s just me

The weather’s fine think it’s gonna be
A perfect day in your memory
Wipe the slate retain your sanity
I don’t take my time like I’m told to
But that’s just me

Say what you like say it’s all for the best I don’t think you understand me
Let’s do what we like without regard for the mess always room to move to plan b
Well that’s you and that’s me
It’s just how it’s gonna be
But it’s a crazy ride and I like it

I bet you think you got a bead on me
You got a theory on the mystery
It’s not because I don’t like honesty
I just like you beating round the wrong bush
Yeah but that’s just me
That’s just me
But that’s just me
oh that’s just me

Say what you like say it’s all for the best I don’t think you understand me
Let’s do what we like without regard for the mess always room to move to plan b
Well that’s you and that’s me
It’s just how it’s gonna be
But it’s a crazy ride and I like it

You and me we’re climbing up the walls together
running round and round but you know I think
It’s gonna take just a little more time for us to figure this out

Lyrics – Someone Else’s Problem

Posted on by

Hey hey campers.

I’m getting a little out of sorts. Or at least out of order. But one thing I know, I usually post lyrics to the next song around the same time that we go and record the thing. And one thing I did not do with this song is post the lyrics around the same time that we went and recorded the thing.

So here they are. I guess it could seem like I’m getting a little, er, preachy. Honestly it’s just timing. Once again I wrote this a few years ago. But now seemed to be a good time to release it. I decided to add a middle eight and wrote this in what felt like not enough time. I think I like it, but time will tell.

You don’t need me to tell you this is self-explanatory, so I won’t. Oh wait, I did. Bother. What I will say is that this song kind of comes out of me mishearing a lyric in Sadako by 3dBs Down. Anyways, here y’go:

Someone Else’s Problem
Without wishing to get too heavy-handed
I’d like to suggest that the boat in which we’ve all just been landed
Is listing quite badly to port or to starboard
I never really took the time to learn to tell them apart
Oh, but that’s not the point I digress
It’d probably be a good idea to lend a hand with this mess
If that’s not too inconvenient
Let’s hope when we get to the root of it the problem is easy to mend.
Without starting again

Hold up – do you mind?
You’re demanding this of me
When I know my rights
And I won’t be left behind
We’ll all stand in line
To get all that we deserve
Why not change your mind?
Why not take the other side?

So here’s what I’m wanting to say
It’s been said so many times that I think it might just be a cliché
If there’s one thing you could try
You should try being somebody else, and if you do in reply
They might have a quick go at being you
Perhaps when you’re back cutting slack might not be so hard to do
Can I say it again?
Not that it’s likely to help it’s always someone else’s problem
Maybe I’m spent

If you can sit there in the trappings of your comfortable life
And still surround yourself with hatred and bitterness
If you can’t muster just the smallest spark of empathy
And still think only about what you can get for yourself
Then it’s not someone else’s problem

The dog Tired studio times

Posted on by

I think the easiest thing is going to be to keep everything in the correct chronological order. Otherwise I’m going to have trouble working out what on earth is going on. Should you be curious though, Flotsam & Jetsam is still very much on the way, and we’ve actually been in to record next month’s release as well. All progressing well.

So this post harks back 2 months ish now. I never posted a studio report for dog Tired. So here it is.

Personnel for this one were: Paul West – drummist and backing singist, Ant Martin – basser, Jack Lewis – electric guitarer and lead singist, Toby Hawkins – acoustic guitarer and lead singist.

This is the first time I’ve deigned (haha) to share the actual lead vocals on a pØ track. I enjoyed it. I’ll be doing it more often.

This was a very reasonable day’s work. Relying a bit on memory now, but I believe the drums were in already, so we laid down some tight grooves quick smart. Bit spoilt having Paul really. He’s very quickly able to get into the spirit of whatever’s on offer from month to month.

Mr Martin was up next, bringing a bag of treats as is his wont. He also brought a big bag of bass. It’s such a delight watching people turn up and bring their own flavour to all of these dumb songs I write. I particularly enjoyed the big slappy bits. Oh yes.

Jack turned up just in time to overlap with Ant, which was nice, and I was next up, recording the acoustic. I can’t remember if I’ve said this before, but I’m feeling pretty confident with recording in general, but especially playing acoustic rhythm guitar.

Then it was Jack’s turn to do some electric. I had to run off to do some errand, I forget what, but came back to find Paul and Jack writing/working out the chorus riff. But where Jack really shone was the improvisation stuff. In particular, his improvised solo after the middle eight was a first take wonder. We tried for another take, but it wasn’t worth it as the first was just so good.

Then the vocals. I went first, then Jack. There was a little bit of fun working out one of my more obscure timings but other than that everything was very smooth and sounded wonderful.

And this time you don’t have to take my word for it. You can listen and judge for yourself! Class.

I am also able to report that the non-standard capitalisation of the song title aggravated at least 50% of the musicians involved. So there’s that.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Lyrics – Flotsam & jetsam

Posted on by

Everything’s gone a bit out of sync, but as it turns out, that’s probably better. Usually I post lyrics for the next song either just before or just after going into the studio. Then it’s not so long a wait until the music follows. But this month’s song is a bit of a 7 minute beast, and we weren’t able to complete the recording portion until last Saturday. The editing and mixing are getting there I think, but there’s still a little bit of a wait to go.

But since you want to know, we went into the studio on 18 June to record a song that I’ve been looking forward to doing something with for a while, Flotsam & jetsam.

As with a few songs I’ve released recently, this was written around 2012. Unlike most songs I release this is something of a story. Imagine, if you will, a future where it starts raining. And just doesn’t stop. The song is written from the point of view of those living through that. It’s about dealing with the fallout where you didn’t plan ahead. Or believe that the worst could come to pass.

It’s probably equal parts metaphor and literal. I hope we don’t screw up the climate to the point where we look back and shake our heads at our greed and carelessness. I hope we don’t screw up civilisation to the point where we look back and shake our heads at our greed and carelessness. As a species we don’t have a particularly good record on either point. But I hope.

Musician-wise, I was able to scrounge up 3/4 of Roo’s Radio, but not a full complement. So Paul plays drums, Ally plays bass and Claire is singing lead vocals on the verses, which worked really nicely. A long time ago we toyed with this song as strangeday – and I’m not ruling out a strangeday version in the future – and Aaron was mucking about with some really nice atmospheric guitar. I couldn’t hear the song without this addition, so I duly enlisted his services.

And the results so far are sounding pretty huge. Given the number of partial plays for normal length songs, I don’t hold out huge hopes that it’s going to fare better, but we’re pretty pleased with it.

Here’s the lyrics for posterity and what not.

Flotsam & jetsam
Doesn’t seem so long ago
The sky turned black; the thunder rolled
And then the wind began to blow
And the heavens opened

We never thought to build to last
Nor dreamed that it could come to pass
Lowland turns to floodplain fast
It may be senseless hoping

Dull as dirt the rising tide
It’s perilous to step outside
Face the day, refuse to cry
Our bitterness but a token

But we sit and watch the waters rise
Turn and face the rain filled skies

Drag our feet, remember when
A summer’s day could feel like ten
There used to be a wound to mend
Now there’s nothing left unbroken

And now I sit on my back step
and watch the waters rise
And now I sit, head in hands
and watch the waters rise

Lyrics – dog Tired

Posted on by

So we’re in the studio. I totes forgot to prelude it by telling you about the song and posting the lyrics.

So sorry.

Today we’re recording the first blues song I ever did write. I doubt I have the right. I’m not exactly a blues aficionado. I always think of the bit in Lord of the Rings where Aragorn tells Bilbo it’s his look out if he has the cheek to write songs about Gil-galad in the house of Elrond. </nerd>

Anyway.

I think this one revolves around the line “what if there are fights you’re born to lose”. We get so much in films and so on about destiny and everything working out right. And sometimes things don’t work out. Not a sparkling piece of insightful observation, I’ll grant you.

What if no matter how you went about a situation you were going to fail? Probably you should still go for it. Depends on your perspective I guess. The point being, if you fail, you shouldn’t berate yourself too hard or entertain endless what ifs.

I actually came up with the title of the song by mishearing Radiohead‘s Myxomatosis. It’s not as if Thom’s diction is the clearest in rock. Turns out the lyric is “I don’t know why I feel so tongue tied”, not “dog tired”. Hell I’ll take it. At least I didn’t write a song called Twitch and salivate. Although…

As well as Paul and myself (standard), we’ve also got Ant Martin back in and the one and only Jack Lewis (Mister Jack Lewis if you please!) for the first time. Very exciting stuff.

I’ll chuck a few pics out at some point no doubt.

And here are the lyrics:

dog Tired
Hung my head found a way
To double down on yesterday
If I keep throwing words around
If I could just hold out and run to ground
That most elusive of all men
The king of black eyed fools again
I’ve been indecisive, I’ve been unkind
Mercy me I think I’ve been so blind

Tell me just exactly what’s a man to do
What if there are fights you’re born to lose?
What if I could have done it different from the start…
But what’s the point of “ifs” they’ll only tear you apart

Holding forth as if by this
Strength of belief I could dismiss
All opposition, all antipathy
But it begs the question, who are we?
And honestly I still don’t know
Whether to stay or up and go
Apprehensive of all that is required
And all of my days feeling so dog tired

Every now and then I’ll catch a glimpse
Of the life that I could lead and I’m convinced
That here to there and there to here and back again
Would take more out of me than I have to spend