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1. |
Annette Bening
01:53
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Funnily enough I started writing a different song weeks earlier about her before this one. The angle was celebrity sighting at a hotdog stand…but yeah, I don’t have a particular fascination with her to be quite honest. She seems like a nice person plus her name sounds/looks good to me. There’s a lady who is an acquaintance of mine that bares a fair resemblance to Annette which might have given me the final push to write it thinking back.
The words and music came rather quickly. Having said that I kept tinkering with small details in how I wanted to sing certain things and whatnot up until the day it was recorded. The solo section on guitar is maybe my favourite thing I’ve ever written. I like playing this song a lot. Like the majority of my songs there are many chords but somehow this one doesn't sound very busy which I'm thrilled with.
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2. |
Improve My Improv
02:44
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Have you heard the great Chris Weisman? If anything this tune is a tribute to his unique stamp. Most of it came in two days but time passed and I felt bad that it was in limbo so I tied the bow over a year later. What I’m trying to get at with the lyrics are basically, make the effort to not always settle for familiarity when writing a chord progression. Hopefully this tune will make more sense if you listen to his stuff.
Thank you Thom Gill for introducing me to his music a few years back :D
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3. |
Monster
02:35
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Why an inventor hasn’t made a recording device to put in your shower is beyond me. So many idea’s are birthed there be they musical or not. Got the first verse and chorus while I was in the shower. Shortly after then Matt helped me finish writing it. I knew it had to be a piano tune as I had been on a huge Gilbert O’Sullivan kick and this whole song idea was definitely made possible by his influence.
Big thanks to John for convincing me to do drums - as I was hesitant at first.
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4. |
Diamond In December
03:26
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I went on a date with this lovely girl, however, going into it I was a little aimless of what I wanted to achieve - is that wrong/weird? I don’t know. Anyways, the following morning I found myself listening to (then quickly learning) Songs Of Love by The Divine Comedy. Through discovering a chord or two that I had never played before I started making this tune up. Next thing I know a few hours go by and a song emerges. It's the first time I have ever written a full song in one sitting - what an exhilarating feeling I tell ya!
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5. |
Poet Inside
02:59
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Much praise to the film "The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story" for inspiring me to write this one. After watching I felt it was my duty as a songwriter to try and do something wonderful, to give back. Grabbed the guitar and came up with this super whacky concoction of a song that turned out being so far away from what I had set out to do. Bummed out by this, I stopped playing. Fortunately I remember I wasn't doing a lot that afternoon so I picked the guitar back up and picked a few sections and refined them. During the next two days it was essentially done. I asked Frankie to help me write the lyrics because I knew he wanted to see this movie (as he’s an even bigger Disney fan than myself), so he was the perfect candidate in my eyes. For awhile I just called it “the disney song” for nothing seemed like a good title. It wasn’t until I first did a pass at the vocal while recording that John and I looked at each other and he said exactly what I was about to say which was, “Poet Inside...is what it should be called”.
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6. |
Special Kind
04:09
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I've had the privilege of going to Japan twice now. This song stems from a small experience I had at the bullet train subway. Now I feel the need to mention how Japan only seems to play music I enjoy which is something quite special in and of itself. Think of any sort of establishment or scenery and you know every song, current or not that’s being played. It’s truly amazing!
Whilst waiting for a steamy bun order I heard this fantastic snippet of joyful music being played faintly above. I suddenly start humming something in the same vein but different notes etc. It's kind of like a baseline in my head (turns out to be the melody of the chorus) that I keep running over to not forget it. Fast forward a week or two, now in Keswick, I ask Matt to help me write it and we complete it rather quickly. It’s the second song about this one particular girl I’ve yet to meet in person.
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sivarT Toronto, Ontario
Travis Stokl is sivarT. Formerly the drummer of The Elwins.
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