I’m an idiot. Well, maybe not an idiot, but I sure as hell don’t want to learn some important lessons. When we set out to create a new song, it starts with the three of us sitting down and listening to a guitar riff, a keyboard riff, some lyrics or even a weird sound – something as the inspiration for a new song. Every single time that initial session leaves me with an overwhelming sense of “meh”, and to be honest I find it difficult to get excited.
Making a song involves a few different tasks. Most importantly, there has to be some point to get across to the audience. Second, there are decisions to make regarding instrumentation. When it comes to instruments, there are lots of choices, but in the end those choices need to serve the mood or feeling of the song. Lastly, the song has to be constructed, or arranged, to build and communicate the song’s idea. As a band, our influences are some of the greatest songwriters ever, at least in the rock genre, so we have lots of great examples to draw upon.
So back to me being an idiot. After that initial listening and discussion, we generally start adding parts – a bass line, some drums, more guitars (can you ever have enough?), and whatever else comes to mind. Even at this stage, I have a really hard time seeing the forest for the trees. When the tracking is done – or at least when we think that it’s done – we sit down, talk about what to keep, what to toss, and how to arrange those pieces in the best way to serve the song. Once we decide on some direction, it’s my job to mix those elements together. When it works, the whole ends up being greater than the sum of the parts. It’s only here, at the end, that I always sit back with surprise and think, “Wow, this actually works”, or “Damn, this rocks!”. The process always starts and ends the same way. I sure wish I could learn to trust it.