“W”

October 9, 2009

So we’re pretty much finished with recording W. I thought I’d take a couple (a relative term) lines to explain where this song came from.

When all five of us got in the room for the first time back in June, we did three things:

1.) Spontaneously broke into “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis

2.) Caused permanent hearing damage to all of us.

3.) Nick laid out the initial riff for W.

This song gets Daniel's seal of approval

This song gets Daniel's seal of approval

The guys jammed on it for a while, then we moved on. One night shortly there after at Pete’s while the guys were working on it some more, the lyrics hit:

“Too many times have I tried to get your attention/You just stand there aloof, holding off all my advances” – I think it may have been the same night I claimed myself as the “rock n’ roll Jay-Z.” Let’s just say beer was involved (not Ciroc Vodka).

Things began simple enough, being about trying to get someone to notice…But since it was summer vacation for me, and I had been spending a lot of time in bars – the form of the song as a whole began to take shape.

It’s a drunken rant of some guy who wants to know why this bartender won’t give him the time of day when he wants, instead of just when she has an issue. They guy in the song is even screaming out by the time we get to the chorus, “Hold me down & twist my arm/Push my face down on the floor.” In other words, “I’ll do anything, just notice me for more than as a place to vent problems and shove drinks at.”

It's daylight. If you're the last one - GO HOME!

It's daylight. If you're the last one - GO HOME!

The “W” in W stands for the word Whore. They guy in the song is referring to himself as one. Because he knows he is one. He’s in the bar night after night, continuously coming back for what empty fulfillment he can get in hopes of something more.

In it’s original form, all we had was verse/chorus repeat repeat. However, this felt a bit stale in performance. “I felt it was a bit too vanilla,” Rory said of the original version, “and I didn’t want to just stick a bridge after one of the choruses because we do that in other songs and plus it would have made the song too long.”  So, Rory came up with a bridge that leads into a sick sounding break into a solo (while the rest of the band plays a variation on the main riff) which then offers a dramatic ascending two-chord progression back to the home chord (A major, for the curious). The band  then briefly cuts out at a fairly major line in the song: “You think by now I would have learned my lesson.” It’s pretty damn cool when everything kicks back in near the end of that line. But anyway, the guy doesn’t – he claims he’s going to leave, but like a true alcoholic, the final chorus ultimately seals his fate. He’ll “put back another shot.”

Soon, you guys will get to hear W in it’s newly reworked glory. Until then, take a listen to the original live version from Infants.

And don’t forget…you’ll get to see all our songs in their wondrous glory on Oct. 18th!

One more thing. We’ve come up with an name for the EP/whatever it is we’re recording: Some Days I’m Evolving. Soon, people…soon.

ST & RC from CZ


Let’s get “Personal”

September 25, 2009

During the process that has become being in this band, we’ve switched up set lists and made tweaks here & there. However, there’s one song that seems to work no matter where we put it cause it’s that damn cool – Personal.

This was probably the first riff Nick laid down on his own into garageband. The guitar wasn’t even hooked in yet. The equipment for that hadn’t come in the mail yet. It was simply an open air recording into the mic of my laptop. I took a few liberties and doctored it up with a little crackle & pop from the options on the program and just started to listen.

At this point, I guess you could say I was still pretty frustrated with myself in terms of music. We had been going to a lot of rock shows and complaining about why we weren’t doing this and so on. For my part, I kept coming up with excuses not to do it. This was the beginning of stopping those excuses.

We all have these moments

We all have these moments

I decided to turn the lyrics onto myself. I took some of the things I didn’t like about myself & decided to give me a hard time about it. Here’s the chorus as an example:

“I’m driven slowly down/Got no time for your fairytales/No one cares when you say/You’re done with the world/Who are you to complain/Don’t take it personal.”

If you listen to the whole song, it’s actually quite abusive & mean. I think the way it will be on the new EP will reflect that attitude. The “Don’t take it personal” in the song is a reminder to just simply use it all as criticism no matter how mean it all gets. The guitars Nick & Rory play on it now get downright scathing.  It’s so heavy. I love it. Even the new solo will reflect the conflict of the piece. By the time we hit the final verse/chorus combo, everything’s blowing up in a full scale riot. Everyone’s doing their own thing, it’s like a big fight.

"Don't take it personal"

"Don't take it personal"

The version of Personal that’s on Infants is a vastly different one than I just described. It’s slow, it’s plodding, nearly pleading – it more represents being tired than pissed. It’s also just Nick, Rory, & I. Overall, I think it’s one of the biggest evolutions our songs have experienced. The chord structure never changed, but the whole attitude did. Before you hear the huge, rocked out version, I submit this toned down early version for you to compare. Check it out!

I’ll be back to chat about our other tunes currently being recorded very soon. We just laid out most of the tracks for W this week, so expect a little story about that soon! Till next time -

ST from CZ


Lets talk about EP’s

September 25, 2009

I have some time today, so I figured I could chat with you guys about:

1.) The set of demos we just released. (As in old recordings)

&

2.) The EP we’re going to release. (As in NEW recordings)

With Infants – our set of way old-school demos (or as old school as you can get for a band who’s been in existence for 5 months) – what we’re hoping to do is give you an idea of how our ideas developed. Those who have seen us live recently or taken a look at some of the new YouTube videos know where we are right now. However, there’s not a whole lot of you who know where we’ve been (you don’t know where we’ve been…bwa ha ha!). With Infants, we’re hoping to change that a little.

Nick's nephew, Conrad, was born on the 22nd. The inspiration for the title, Infants.

Nick's nephew, Conrad, was born on the 22nd. The inspiration for the title, Infants.

As of right now, it is our intention to use the name Infants to refer to the songs before the songs. With each true EP we release, we’ll be putting out an Infants collection to let you see how those particular songs evolved. For right now, they’ll probably be dubbed Infants 1 – however many we do like this. You’ll see as we go.

In case you haven’t caught on to what we’re doing – the old demos on Infants will be the songs we’ll be putting in their new and improved form on the subsequent EP.

By the way, we’re still trying to think up a name for the EP. If you know how to find us, let us know what you think!

Stay tuned for more posts today!

ST from CZ


New things…New things…

September 23, 2009

So what’s up Zoo-readers? In terms of City Zoo, there’s a few things we have going on:

1. We’re RECORDING! Yep. That’s correct. One song down & 3 to go for a digital EP that will be showing up hopefully within the next month. We’re celebrating this recording process by releasing some early versions of the songs we’re recording.

2. We’ve posted Infants, a set of demo tracks to get you guys started on your City Zoo Discography. Like I said, these songs are early versions of the ones we’re currently recording. Don’t worry about repeats, because it’s F-R-E-E, FREE! We just want your email so we can let you know about new blog posts, shows, events, etc. As we go through the recording process, we’ll fill you in on song histories, plots, & other odds & ends as we see fit.

3. We’re currently rehearsing for a show @ the Allways Lounge on St. Claude. It’s an after party for a play produced by The NOLA Project, Finer Noble Gases. Thanks to a partnership with The NOLA Project and the NOLA Indie Rock Collective, every night of the play showcases a different local band. White Bitch, The Generationals, and The Green Genes are up the 1st week of the show. Loren Murell, Wolves,Where?, and US! CITY ZOO perform the second week! Our official date is Oct. 18th @9:30. A night of rock goodness…what could be better?

4. We still have more vids from the Whiskey Dix show to post. So look for those soon. Also, for whenever the next time we play there – we’re trying to come up with our own ideas for vids to show on the back screen during the show. You never know what you might see there…

Till next time you wonderful Zoo Animals…

ST from CZ


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.