I'm sure that doesn't make me unique or ground breaking. I'm sure quite a lot of writers have at least some background music going when they create. Music helps clear the mind in some instances and can be very beneficial to just about any activity that requires focus. But part of my process is that I score my own work. For instance, my last published novel, The Favorite, had a soundtrack that was one part driving hip-hop (down and dirty to power the fight scenes), one part 90's East Coast Gangsta Rap (for the more criminal scenes), and one part Emo Rock (for the reflective moments).
Some of the music I used to write The Favorite
That mix of music helped me direct scenes and make more sense emotionally of the movie that played out in my head. The music helped me express what was going on beneath the narrative, and even if that stuff never makes it onto a page, anything I can do to better understand my characters as they navigate the world and problems I placed them in is a worthwhile enterprise.
But that was a general soundtrack, toying with the idea of writing to music. Since then I've settled on using certain songs on repeat to write certain scenes. In my current work-in-progress, titled Open (for the time being), a man and his wife have an ugly confrontation after they catch each other cheating. That confrontation explodes in dish-shattering, fridge shaking sex in their kitchen, where they lose themselves in the heat of the moment. The song that played (on loop) while I wrote it?
Yep, that's right. Come Together by the Beatles. Besides the pun, it seemed to fit the mood perfectly, given their circumstances. No shortage of irony, I guess.
I've taken the approach one step further for my next project, a vigilante crime story called Urban Legend. I've crafted individual soundtracks for the protagonist, antagonist and "sidekick" characters. I'm using the individual character songs to form a mood when I'm scene building and these characters have to interact. I'm using songs like "I Am," by Eminem, "Animal I Have Become," by Three Days Grace, and "(Rock) Superstar" by Cypress Hill. This is an experiment that may cause more trouble than not but the easy way is not the way to grow. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Anyway, where do my fellow writers stand on using music to set the tone on their writing? How do you use it? Comment here or on Facebook.
I was visiting my girlfriend in Canada last night, and on the way back, there was a long border line. Apparently, Canadians don't work on Good Friday. Slackers.
It was a bright sunny day, so what's a guy to do? He rolls down his windows, turns up his stereo, and belts out songs at the top of his lungs. To my surprise, many of the people mired in wait alongside me appreciated my vocal stylings... or at least that I was a happy guy trying to have fun in a situation most would find at the very least oppressively dull. I wish I had pictures of my newfound fans, but alas, I'll save that for next time.
At the suggestion of a co-worker, I went to a local bar to check out a show featuring bands from around Bellingham. It was a Thursday, and I didn't have anything else to do, so I went. Three bands played: two metal bands, one of whom I didn't stay for (metal isn't my thing, I'm sorry) and one band that was a little different: TripMadam. The 45 minute set they played was quite good in my opinion, and by looking at the crowd I wasn't alone in my opinion. They were easily the stars of the show. When I found out that a band this good was unsigned, I had to get them for a Declarations of Independence profile.
TripMadam is Jared Fox (J-Fox) as lead vocalist and rhythm guiatrist, Taylor (T-Slammer) Galley on guitar and backing vocals, Mike Honeycutt on bass and Ryan Holland on drums. The band's been around for four years and they've developed quite a local following. Known for they're solid songwriting and crowd interaction, they tend to leave a trail of cheering, impressed fans in their wake. The band is a sort of rock/metal/grunge hybrid calling themselves a sort of "Alice in Chains with a twist of lemon." They compare their style to bands like 3 Days Grace, Staind and SlipKnot.
TripMadam was founded in 2009 by J-Fox and Ryan, along with Aaron Kirby (currently of Amish warfare) and Bryce Irwin (Black Beast Revival). "Aaron and I had been friends for a long time," Jared explains, "and we said, screw it, let's try to find a couple other guys. We've been in several bands so we knew tons of musicians. We were fortunate to meet Ryan, and we started jamming and everying just clicked."
While Ryan and Jared had based their participation in TripMadam on an old friendship, Mike Honeycutt found his way into the band through sheer luck. "Before (TripMadam) I was on kind of a musical hiatus, and then it was like, 'hey we need a bass player.'" He bought new equipment and joined the band on a Thursday in August of 2012. And the new bass player was immediately put to work. "I learned enough music to played a show that Monday," he said. "It's been like a rocket from there."
TripMadam's newest addition joined in November of 2012, as Taylor Galley was added after co-founder Aaron Kirby departed to focus on other projects. "I had been in two bands with Jared before and Jared did a lot of the songwriting for those projects. when I auditioned, I was familiar with a lot of the songs." That familiarity has worked well to his advantage, and he's eager to make his mark on the band's sound. "I'm more into heavier metal and stuff, but I;m trying to think outside the box with TripMadam." ("Not trying to," Jared deadpans, "I'm making you.")
TripMadam defines itself by it's high goals and the hard work that goes into attaining them. "We don't want to just be a garage band," Jared says. "We want to be that next level, so we treat everything with professionalism. We show up early, we stay late, we make sure that wherever we're playing, anyone who's throwing it on gets the proper thanks and appreciation for having us there. we put on a show and when we leave, we leave a great taste in their mouth." The shows that TripMadam puts on tend to be fan-focused affairs. While they have primarily played small, local venues, they have used the limited space to get up close and personal with their fans. A show that stands out in Taylor's mind was at a bar called Tubbs. "This bar could only hold maybe 60 or so people. We had it pretty packed, but the thing is there's no real stage. since we like to participate with our audience so much, what was fun about that show was that we got to walk into the crowd while people were having their drinks and play to them personally."
Manager Paul Sullivan also likes their up-close-and-personal style. "The first show where I was excited to see them was at the GLOW," he says. "To actually watch Mikey and Taylor and Jared rock out on their guitars, they were playing on the dance floor and people were all around them. The crowd was feeding off them and they were feeding off the crowd. It was beautiful to watch." To Mike and Jared, their show at the Underground last December, where I saw them, was their finest to date. "It was 400, 500 people," Jared says. "They had us between two metal bands, and we had the crowd interacting with our songs, even people who never heard us. I had earplugs in and I could still hear them. Merchandizing coordinator Ashley Lee thinks this is the band's big appeal. "(TripMadam) is so much fun to watch. They give off this energy that draws the crowd in. It drew me in, and it's so much fun to watch."
In my time interviewing the band, the one thing that became apparent to me was the way they interacted, very much like a family. This bond was forged on a recent road trip to San Diego: where the average group of friends might have been at each other's throats on the 20 hour drive each way, TripMadam was on a mission. "We went down the coast to sell the band," Jared recounts, "let people know who we are and let them know the Northwest is gonna come down there and kick your ass, let them know that we're still doing great music." The family approach even comes through in songwriting. "It starts with an idea, you know. It could be a riff that I'm writing, or a song Taylor's writing, or something Mike says 'come here and check this out,' and we start playing and put the pieces together, then we hand it off to Ryan, and he makes it jell together."
The family approach extends to the team surrounding the band, from managers Kimm Davis and Paul Sullivan (Paul jokes "She always says she got the band in the divorce.") to the minds behind the merchandizing, Ashley Lee and Ruby Huizenga, and even to the former bandmates and their new projects. "Anyone who's been in TripMadam was a part of the family -- they still are part of the family. We jusst don't see each other as much because we're off to bigger and better things with our own projects." One of those projects is Amish Warfare, headed by former backing guitarist Aaron Kirby. "They're a lot of fun to watch, kind of like a punky version of KISS," Jared says. Taylor adds with a laugh "They're the kind of band that can do a punk version of Britney spears and have everyone dancing to it."
The band's best days are ahead of them, as the future includes a West Coast Tour and even a contribution of two songs and score pieces to a film soundtrack, "The Last Fall of Ashes." The band contributes the title track, "Ashes," and another song, "And I Know." And like everything else for a do-it-yourself artist, this came about through being in the right place at the right time with the right people. Jared met the director of the film through a chance encounter with a mutual friend. After auditioning, he gave Jared the script also he could write a song and a score piece. "At that point in time, I was going through chaotic stuff in my life, with my wife. when i read the script it was like, verbatim, everything I had gone through with her and our situation. It's a tragic love story, it really is and it really connected with me." after viewing some clips to the film, Jared wrote "Ashes" for the film. "It kind of came to me, lyrics were just pouring out."
The other song the band contributed to the film is "And I Know," for which they filmed a video. "We did three days of shooting in eight hours," Jared says. "And it was freezing fucking cold." And in keeping with the DIY nature of the band, they called in a few favors to shoot the video. "It was done by a couple of really good friends. They took exactly what I was talking about, and put it in the video."
TripMadam has ambitious plans to tour this fall, somewhere between October and December, with plans to expand their fanbase beyond the Northwest. Planned stops include San Diego, Phoenix, Albuquerque and Colorado Springs.
It's the story we all are told as kids, how in this country, we have the opportunity to take our talents and make something of ourselves, create a better life, and get wealthy doing exactly what we want to do. We hear about it from the top a lot, from the people who have already made it. What about the rest of us?
As an independent author, I know that between the starting from nothing and the becoming something, there's a lot of grinding in the middle. A lot of paid dues. A lot of separation from the pack. A lot of figuring out which way is your way. To be honest, the stories of the people trying to make it is a lot more interesting than the ones of those that already did. You never hear the stories from the middle, but maybe we should.
I will be taking it upon myself to find these stories and tell them, partly as shameless self-promotion and partly as a way to get the word out on people who are doing it themselves and meeting varying levels of success. That's the inspiration for us all, isn't it?
So, look for "Declarations of Independence," profiles of independent artist, authors, designers, businessmen and women. People who started with a passion and a good idea and turning a dream into reality. And if any of you are out there and wanting to have your story told, contact me on Facebook or at frankcthomas@hotmail.com.
Yet another piece of my early childhood musical education has passed on.
Legendary disco queen Donna Summer has passed away, losing her battle with cancer. She was 63.
Much of my family were young in the mid to late 70's, when disco was in its heyday, so it was far from uncommon to hear some of that stuff in the mid 80's in my house as my older siblings were "digging in the crates" for older records. For all you younger folk, records are three generations before mp3s. "Hot Stuff" and "Let's Dance" are two of my older brother's favorite songs... and I have his disco mix CD to prove it.
Ms. Summer was the picture of class, and the world is lesser for her loss. Rest in Peace.
Ten years ago I was in my 20's, life was good, and I was in the best shape of my life. Now, I'm 33, my knees hurt after basketball, I'm more worried about politics than not. Music sucks, and I dread doctor's visits.
I actually thought about that while I was in the shower tonight, how my first doctor's visit in my 30's so drastically differed from the ones I had before. All of a sudden, I was turning my head and coughing. Probes were placed where none had ever been placed before. I got the rubber-glove treatment. I mean, seriously, I felt violated. I'm sure men my age can relate, even if we don't say so. To this day, the sound of a rubber glove snapping makes me cringe, and of course, since I work in healthcare, it means I'm very jittery at work.
As I'm driving to work tonight, I have the radio on, and I hear a very terrible collection of beeps, boops and bass, interpolated with the words "I'm sexy and I know it." And I wish I could have seen my own face, because I imagine it looked something like my mother's did when I defended the lyrics of The Notorious B.I.G. to her. She would look at me cockeyed and say "This is music?" Now I listen to songs like "I'm Sexy And I Know It," and, well, I am most certainly not LMFAO. I find myself asking questions I swore I would never ask when I was a teenager: Is this music?
So now, I along with the rest of my generation have become old people. We rant about how the music sucks and how the kids today have no manners or dress sense. We start stories with "Back in my day," and end with a rant on how spoiled today's youth is. We all knew we would become parents one day (well, not me, but all of you), but who would have ever thought we'd become our parents?
That's a weird thing to say. He's one of those acts that no one missed or until he was dead. I mean, if you mentioned him, a certain group of people would be screaming "Ohhh, shit, that was my jam back in the day." He had his fans, not like Joe Frazier, who died yesterday, and I counted myself among the number. In the early 90's hip-hop was a different beast on the East Coast. Instead of violent, crime laden stories, it was a much peppier, lighter fare. This is the time of my life where "inside-out was wiggedy-wiggedy-wiggedy wack."
Heavy D was a direct connection to my youth, a micro-phenomenon that was contained entirely withing my pre teen years. Not like Biggie, who will still get airplay to this day, who is still broad-based relevant. Heavy D's influence is and was felt by a very specific demographic at a very specific time. No disrespect intended, but a lot of the white kids who know who Biggie or Tupac is, have no idea who Heavy D is, and that's shameful in its own right.
Heavy D was one of the few examples of hip-hop that didn't necessarily glorify denigration or destruction. It's evident in how he was found. As of this blog post, the cause of death is still unknown, but there's a very good chance it wasn't violent. In Old West parlance, he probably didn't die with his boots on.
I remember junior high school very vividly. I remember we had a teacher, Mr. Gordon, who was a dead ringer for big Heav. I wonder if he's still teaching. Or teaching there.
