Many bands have a musical reference to other bands that is integrated into their band image, usually in the form of covers, or in descriptions of the music. Even bands as preposterous as the Peppermint Creeps are providing us a cover of the Vapors smash hit: Turning Japanese. The local Minneapolis band, White Light Riot got their name from their musical heroes, White Lion, Gordon Lightfoot and Quiet Riot. And you simply don't see a CD review without the music being referenced to other recordings.

Sure, people need a reference, and it's almost impossible to tell people what the music sounds like. Billy Joel already said, "There's a new band in town, but you can't get the sound from a story in a magazine..." Worse yet, it makes it difficult to get any originality across to people when they hear you are "like Band X".

Covers in live shows are standard fare, they are a quick and painless way to stretch out your set, and they are usually fun to play. But covers on recordings are sometimes used by new bands to 'break' into radio: "Hey, if you liked Band X then your gonna Love this!" Musical comparison to other bands is required in Press Kits, and expected on websites and in the "sounds like" box on Myspace. I have no problem with giving a tip of the cap to your forebears, but I also wouldn't want to become famous for a cover song. Are there Any famous 'cover bands'? There's plenty of famous 'knockoff' bands that try to be like someone else, and if you are a talented musician but an untalented song writer, this is the way to go. Weird Al Yankovich is a 'parody band' and therefore, the exception.

When most bands cover songs they try to be extremely true to the original. I think that's not always the best idea. The closer people get to sounding like the original, the less I like it. If I wanted to hear "Cars" by Gary Numan, I would pull out the 12" vinyl record of The Pleasure Principle and cue it up. If your band manages to pull off the perfect cover of Cars, note-for-perfect-note, guess what? It still ain't the real deal. You didn't write it. But if you grab the song by the balls and give it a twist the way Fear Factory did on their Obsolete album, that's pretty cool. They made the song their own.

The best twist on a cover song was the Scissor Sisters cover of "Comfortably Numb". Brace yourself: its Disco. I'll pause here to let that sink in - A Disco version of Comfortably Numb.

...

Sacrilege right? I would have thought so if I hadn't seen them play it live at the Fine Line. Talk about making a song your own. It was pretty amazing.

Not that all cover songs need to be twisted. Led Zepplin's "Rock and Roll" was made to be covered and played live, but there is no need for anyone to release a recording of their bands version of this song.

I'm blogging up all this nonsense about covers because Jagged Spiral is learning some covers to pad our (dare I say it?) live set. Each of us picked a song (and of course, we all have to agree that the other's choices won't make us puke). Eleven picked "Temple of Love" by The Sisters of Mercy. We played through "Temple of Love" a few times, and decided it was a keeper, it's a good song for us to play just the way it is, without much twisting at all. We will still sound more like Jagged Spiral than The Sisters of Mercy, and I think that's a good thing, since we aren't The Sisters of Mercy.

Josh picked Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave". We haven't practiced this song together just yet, but I think that song will suit us well.

I was waffleing over some ancient Marillion songs like "Freaks" but Josh asked me if I might like to cover the Fleetwood Mac song, "Tusk". Wow. Simple, distinctive, catchy, cool. We listened to the song and talked about the tuning, structure and progression of the song. We are going to give it a try next week, and see if we can make it work for us.

Anyway, the image of Jagged Spiral is growing, as we pick cover songs that define us as a band, and as we pick out references to other bands for our press kit. I'm also working on the band logo.
It will be interesting to see what all this adds up to...

-Z

Labels: As the Jagged Spirals, Practice/Jam

Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes us realize how really really ridiculously far from perfect we are.

But tonight, Jagged Spiral had arguably the most productive and rewarding practice session we have had to date.

Last week, Josh tried to sneak an I-Book into the studio, (like we wouldn't notice or something) anyway, he had this great idea to lock in the tempo of each song, and use the I Book as a really expensive metronome, and he would play to a click track.

I can't tell you how awesome an idea this was.

It's awesome because now I trust the drummer. Before, there were times when Josh and Eleven weren't 'locked' in time, and I wouldn't know who to follow. Eleven admitted the same thing happens to him; Josh and I get out of sync, so who is right? Well, we decided that the drummer is always right, even if he's wrong. That solves some problems, but there are also times when Josh has an entire six pack of Red Bull before he comes over, and we manage to play a 45 minute set in 25 minutes, and Eleven and I can barely keep up.

These problems are a thing of the past. Will we be able to do this when we play live? SHOULD we do this when we play live? Dunno, but it has made practice much easier.

Tonight's practice seemed like our first Real Band practice. We brushed up on material for a couple hours and jammed our first cover song (Sisters Of Mercy's "Temple of Love").

Then, we worked out a set list (! !! !!!), and played it all the way through, with very little time between the songs. It lasted about 38 minutes. Several of the songs are simply rough structures with no lyrics, so there is still lots of work to be done. There are several songs that are unfinished, several songs from Days From Evil that we simply can't play yet, and several cover songs that we would like to learn, but just having a list of songs that we can play nonstop for 38 minutes is pretty awesome. After the practice I was burned out, my voice was nearly shot, but I was SO jazzed. And my hands didn't hurt at all.

The practice is starting to pay off. We are by no means "tight" and for a three piece, we need to be as tight as possible, but I think we are at a really good starting point. It wasn't long ago that we couldn't play a single song that wasn't an audio disaster, and it wasn't long before *that* that we hadn't even played together at all. We have quickly learned the disadvantages of being a "studio band" a mistake we won't make again.

Baby steps, man. Baby steps. Which reminds me that I'm not supposed to mention that Eleven had to move a baby stroller out of the way to fit his gear in the Jeep. A fairly non-metallic moment, but like I said, I'm not supposed to mention that.

-Z

Labels: Practice/Jam

I'm not entirely sure what happened. We were supposed to be practicing. It could have been the weather, or the strange mood I was in (sullen with hints of paranoia, a splash of bitter, and two splashes of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum) More likely it was the Monster Energy Drink Josh finished just before he showed up.

Either way, our "practice" of some new song crashed to a unappealing halt, and we looked at each other disparagingly.

Then it happened. Suddenly, all three of our caffeine/alcohol indices crossed at one point on the creativity chart.

"Hey," I said to Eleven, "What was that punk thing you were doing before, you remember?"

"Sure," he nodded and Launched. Josh followed. I started screaming, and I couldn't tell if I was making lyrics up or possessed by a sudden bout of Tourettes' Syndrome.

Regardless, a new song was flushed out in less than half an hour: God Hates Emo.

I can tell you that it's loud, and fast, and punk. It ends with some chuggy/chanting bit. This is the song we open the show with. If we make another recording it will be the first song.

It is the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence: "Jagged Spiral Declares War On Emo!"

I'm sending a copy to Chris Carrabba, in hopes that he will repent and change his ways.

I'm sending another copy to the Pope, in the hopes that he will realize the error of his ways and leave Homosexuals alone, and go after Emo Bands instead.

I'm sending another copy to Suzanne Vega because I LOVE Suzanne Vega and send her daily updates of everything I do.

I'm sending another copy to Geddy Lee, with a request that we open for RUSH on the "Snakes and Arrows" tour.

I'll let you know how this all pans out...

-Zero

Labels: As the Jagged Spirals, Emo Sucks, Practice/Jam

We have always said that 'nothing can stop the metal' but the other day, we found something that did.

The Crystal Police Department.

Crystal isn't quite Maple Grove, but it also aint North, if you know what I mean. The houses aren't too close together and they aren't too far apart.

To facilitate some carpet cleaning, Monday's practice was moved from the basement to the garage, and it was obvious that we would be heard, but it was just for one time, and our practice session was to be short; from 5 till 8 PM, although the noise ordinance does not require us to turn down until 10PM.

We didn't touch a single song on Days From Evil, instead making use of the practice to do a quick run through the new song "Bad Kitty" and to do more creative and structural work on two new songs, which are currently called "Dragonslayer" and "Horrorcloud". (You will have to ask 11 about where Horrorcloud came from, I think it has to do with Pizza Luce's Garlic Mashed Potato Pizza and his digestive system.)

We were totally rocking, the song structure for the songs was really gelling, and the Freight Train of Metal got rolling, and then...

7PM - Knock, knock.

The music stopped. It was my neighbor, an older woman who keeps a very nice lawn. I don't know her name. Um, she's from two houses down the block.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I just wanted to let you know we were just listening to you guys play, and I wanted to tell you, we Love your music!"

"Really?"

"Hell yeah! That band, the one that does that song 'Iron Man', you know the one?"

"Kind of."

"You sound just like them!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Anyways, we were just outside listening to you play, and had to come over and let you know we hope you will keep playing?"

"Really?"

"All summer long! That would be great!"

"Um, thanks."

Strange. Of course, 11 and Josh heard the whole exchange, and were thrilled. New fans! Oh well, don't let it go to your head. We picked up the reigns and started off again, the avalanche of metal was building to a cresendo, nothing could stop it....

7:30PM - Knock, knock.

It was the police.

I'm not sure I would have accurately remembered the next couple minutes, being pulled from THE ZONE back into reality so quickly. Thankfully we had the videocamera running the entire time, and the police officer was kind enough to step right into the frame as though we had planned the whole thing.

Turns out the sound ordinance also has some nonsense about sounds being detectable within 50 feet. News to me. Guess I'm gonna have to look that one up.

The boys don't want me posting the video just yet, but after a little blurring of the face and voice, it should hit the website, maybe next week...

Metal on,
-Zero

Labels: Practice/Jam

Practice today went well. It was the first practice with my new bass, and I couldn't be happier. The tone is great, and it plays like buttah. After a couple hours Fighting the Dragon, my hand would need a break, but a couple straight hours with the new bass and I couldn't even tell. Typing is more strenous than playing this bass. It's wonderful to have a quality piece of equipment in the studio.

We started off with Bullets and Forced Entry (Since they are in the same tuning) then moved on to Hallowed Ground. While we are getting progressively better, it seems the longer we practice in each session, the worse we get. I suggested we practice LESS often.

After practicing, we worked on the new song, which came into some semblance of a shape, with a defined verse/chorus/bridge. After roughing in the structure, we recorded a couple passes of it. Then I presented some scat vocals I had been bellowing in the car, not much more than a melody, but some lines kept repeating in my head:

Takes a wicked mind to see
All the wicked lies you sell
Blah Blah Blah...
Takes a wicked toungue to tell.
Welcome to Hell.

We recorded the scat melody, and then Eleven presented some lyrics he had worked up when the song existed in another key. We opened up another track (Because Tracks Are Free you know). He recorded a rough of his vox , during which he ad-libbed some verses, including the line "Bad Kitty" which really clicked.

Whether the lyrics stay or not, the combination of "Bad Kitty" and "Wicked Tongue" will seed the theme of the song, and the rest of the lyrics, and no doubt get us into significant trouble with our significant others.

I did some reverb and compression on the mix, then burned it to CD. The vocal pieces seemed to layer pretty well, and I will review our work during my daily commute. Hopefully more lyrics will rise up from the chaos...

The song really pulled together quickly, only three sessions and we have a structure, melody and theme. Scary.

-Z

Labels: Practice/Jam

What happens when Jagged Spiral consumes too much alcohol during a practice session?

This.

Mon.

Don't ask why my Jamacian sounds Italian.

-Zero

Labels: Audio, Practice/Jam

Another night of slaughtering our own works. This time with videotape to prove it. After grinding through "I Am Death", "Hallowed Ground" and "Forced Entry" we took a shot at "Monsters" and came to several decisions.

First was that we suck.

Second was that we suck just a teeny-tiny bit less than yesterday.

Third was that my Bass simply can't handle being tuned down to B for the song "I Am Death" and so until I replace my bass guitar, we won't be performing songs in that low key. It's a shame, because "I Am Death" is turning out to be my favorite song to play. I am in the market for a new bass, but my bank account is not.

After the practice, we tried out some new material, and I came to a couple decisions.

First was that it is much easier to structure songs using cut-n-paste in Sonar. Identify the verse, the chorus, the bridge, the key changes Here and Here, cut/copy/paste and press play. Bam.

Second was that jamming the song live is WAY more fun than cut-n-paste. We managed to get in the groove, and some new material manifested itself that might not have come out in a Studio session. I'm thinking that this approach of writing songs in the practice session instead of in the recording studio might result in more songs that sound more 'organic' and less 'synthetic' than our "Days From Evil" material. When recording in the studio, the temptation to toss in a virtual instrument or sound effect is hard to resist. This might result in more simple songs, less layers, and make recording easier, (Although "Let It Out" was supposedly a "Simple" song with FORTY TRACKS!!!!) but I can't say yet whether it will make better Songs or not. Time will tell.

Labels: Practice/Jam

The second Official Jagged Spiral Jam met today, and let me tell you...

...it was Jagged.

Well, what the hell did you expect, for the past two years we've been a studio band. Pieced together one take at a time, and some song parts haven't been played live for over a year!

So we ground out several sorry renditions of: 'Not Enough Bullets' 'Forced Entry' 'Hallowed Ground' and 'I Am Death'. We also played some new material. We also played some Virtua Fighter 4, and Josh completely slayed everyone. (It makes sense if you think about it: Percussion)

Practice, Practice, Practice. We just have to work at it, is all. And someday, if we keep practicing and focusing and giving it one-hundred and ten percent...

...we might finally be able to beat Josh at Virtua Figher 4.

Labels: Practice/Jam