From the Archives: TLDoJD
Today is two years since our awesome show.
What awesome show?
Glad you asked. =)
The Last Days of Jupiter Deathray, annotated
I have never been in a band. But for one night, a couple of friends and I faked it pretty good.
My friend Jason and my friend Alex and I put a totally sweet project together a couple of years ago and had one sole show which may be filed comfortably under "hours" comma "finest". We formed in the spring and spent the summer together, dividing our time about evenly between rehearsing and suggesting stupid band names to each other. By the fall we had found a stupid name we could all agree on, and had written a few stupid songs as well.
Soulfood Books kindly agreed to host our epic evening.
The playbill:
We had a great turnout and I was really tickled. Also nervous to the point of near psychological freakout, but that's actually pretty normal for me any time I go on stage. Jason was a veteran drummer of ten years, and Alex had already been in a few bands, so I was the greenhorn. I was also, by last call of "not it", the spokesman.
TRACK 1 - [Draw Blood] - Written by me. Me - elec. guitar & lead vox, Alex - elec. guitar
This was the first song I ever wrote that I didn't immediately hate. I improvised the lyrics in a jam session with Jason, and then we scrambled to remember them and write them down once we realized they were actually good. We decided our setlist order by all three of us writing down separately what we thought it should be and then comparing lists. This was number one unanimously. Stylistically it is a blatant rip-off of the White Stripes. Considering that the White Stripes blatantly ripped off their own sound, it's hard to feel too bad about it.
TRACK 2 - [Still On Course] - Written by Alex. Me - bass, Alex - acou. guitar & lead vox
Alex brought this song along with him from his solo stuff. I felt like it was the strongest piece we had in terms of both lyrics and composition, so we played it second. In addition to taking the show up a notch in quality, it was also a nice contrast to the sharp edge of our first number. My bassline through most of the song bounces along a "1, 1 2" beat, but when Alex sings about evolution I changed it up to "1 2, 1 2 3". Anyway, I thought it was clever.
TRACK 3 - [The Ragnarök Blues] - Written by me. Me - acou. guitar & lead vox, Alex - elec. guitar
I wrote this song while sweeping the floor at my old janitor job. There's a lot of mental space to fill between four and six in the morning in an empty showroom. This was also the first bridge I ever wrote all by myself - it took me two hours at least - and the final half-verse came to me in a stroke of rhyming inspiration later on. I love Alex's solo.
The beginning of the song is ripped off from an old tune by a friend of a friend called The Eskimo Blues. Also referenced are norse mythology, The Time Machine, "The Tempest", Dr. Strangelove, H.P. Lovecraft, and the Revelation of John.
TRACK 4 - [Awake] - Written by Alex. Me - bass, Alex - acou. guitar & lead vox
Another of Alex's solo tunes that we adapted for the band. I was pleased with both of the vocal backup parts I wrote for his songs. They were a lot of fun. Singing while playing the bass is harder than singing while playing guitar, for reals.
TRACK 5 - [Night of the Peacock] - Written by me. Me - elec. guitar & lead vox, Alex - elec. guitar
This song was an experiment on several levels. The guys had noted (correctly) that I tend to cram my songs full of lyrics. I wrote this to play with the idea of letting a melody carry the movement forward. It's written specifically for two vocal parts. The idea was that I sing lead in the beginning, but by the end we've switched and I'm singing backup.
Additionally, this was one of the first serious songs I ever wrote. It was actually the song I liked the least, but I was surprised a few months after the show when Jason the drummer told me that it had been his favorite. It's grown on me a bit since then. I wrote the chords, but the amazing hook was Alex's work.
It's kind of sort of about death, and trying to paint it as something personified, and not anything to be afraid of. As I said, an experiment.
TRACK 6 - [Norweigian Wood] - Written by The Beatles. Me - elec. guitar & lead vox, Alex - acou. guitar
Our first cover of the night! We played around with a lot of possible songs to cover, including Come Together, Foxey Lady, and Where Is My Mind. We settled on this one because it sounded so nice even the first time we took it for a spin.
Tracks five six and seven were the jangly part of the set, where we slowed things down a bit and set our effects boxes to "echo". This piece also marks the only time in the entire set where I don't change instruments between songs.
TRACK 7 - [Keep the Car Running] - Written by The Arcade Fire. Me - bass, Alex - acou. guitar & lead vox
This was my favorite song off of The Arcade Fire's second album, and I was inspired to try it back when Jason and I were idly jamming together. It was an obvious choice for Jupiter Deathray once the project actually began to take shape.
After a few rehearsals it was agreed that Alex would sing the lead part, since he had a higher range than me. I've fought jealousy ever since. He does sound great though, curse him. Synchronizing the half-a-beat-too-soon sudden stop ending took much, much practice. That's what makes great bands great though... it's not whether they sound good, because most of them do. It's those little touches where you suddenly realize they must have rehearsed for hours on one little bit to get it perfect. That was our inspiration for the project, really; not just to be a band, but to emulate a great band.
TRACK 8 - [Eleven Saints] - Written by Jason Webley. Me - acou. guitar & lead vox, Alex - bass
This song was so much fun. I came across Webley's music video on the internet, and had bounced the tune around with Jason the drummer previously. As the show approached, we checked the licensing lists to see what covers we could legally play, and had to cut a few. This was a last minute replacement for one of those, but I'm so glad we made the change. Jason Webley personally gave us permission to play this song, with the condition that we send him a copy of our version afterward (which we did). He wrote back, "what fun!" and complimented a small change we made to the original lyrics which was a special feeling.
TRACK 9 - [Ozymandias Had A Myspace Page (Cheer Up Emo Kid)] - Lyrics by me, music by Alex. Me - tambourine & lead vox, Alex - acou. guitar
This was another tune I penned when in all probability I should have been mopping floors instead. Later, Alex was just hanging out playing some weird chord pattern and I pulled out my lyrics notebook and began singing along. Against all odds, it worked perfectly. I love his backup harmonies in this one. Alex had (and still has, I imagine) a remarkable ear.
Jason, our drummer, despite furlongs of talent, was actually incredibly shy. This was the one song we insisted that he begin, before any other voice or instrument was giving cover.
The song draws an odd parallel between modern day "emo" nonsense and the titular character of Shelley's 'Ozymandias'.
TRACK 10 - [Volcano] - Written by The Presidents of the United States of America. Me - bass & lead vox, Alex - elec. guitar
Our last song of the night. Over already? Sadly, yes. We decided not to end on a song we had written just in case everyone hated our stuff. This was a sure-fire crowd pleaser and I don't think there's anything the matter in playing it safe. It's hard to tell, but the ending of this song was the section we practiced the most of any part of any song in our setlist. The cacophony of noise as we wrap up was improvised on the spot, but just before that there's a pair of hits that come "1-2-3, 1-2-3-4-5". That part.
In our practice sessions we would rehearse not only the music, but non-verbal signs as well. Communication in the band structure as you play can be difficult, and with so many songs someone is going to forget something. To protect each other, you must be able to convey information to one another by your eyes, body posture, the way you strike the strings of your guitar, anything. This one was tough for Jason since the end hit came after a series of repeated riffs and it was easy to lose count. Both Alex and I worked together to help cue him with the way we played and moved. That sort of relationship is the camaraderie I loved about Jupiter Deathray. The band was always more important than any individual member. Everything was decided - song choices, venue, even specific lyrics - on the basis of whether or not it was good for the band.
So that was our adventure. It is a warm memory for me, even now. Jason and I still jam together, but he's decided that he is not interested in being "in a band". He's just happy making music. I've seen stills of Alex on the drums behind some guys playing the Tractor Tavern, so there's the opposite path. Me, I'm sort of in the middle. I still write songs, and I still like to go play them at Soulfood's open mic night. It's nice to see myself improving; Jupiter Deathray was the first time I'd ever tried writing real music. I don't imagine I'll ever be famous, and I imagine even less that I'd enjoy it if I was. But for that one night two years ago, it was a lot of fun to pretend.
- Jux
What awesome show?
Glad you asked. =)
The Last Days of Jupiter Deathray, annotated
I have never been in a band. But for one night, a couple of friends and I faked it pretty good.
My friend Jason and my friend Alex and I put a totally sweet project together a couple of years ago and had one sole show which may be filed comfortably under "hours" comma "finest". We formed in the spring and spent the summer together, dividing our time about evenly between rehearsing and suggesting stupid band names to each other. By the fall we had found a stupid name we could all agree on, and had written a few stupid songs as well.
Soulfood Books kindly agreed to host our epic evening.
The playbill:
We had a great turnout and I was really tickled. Also nervous to the point of near psychological freakout, but that's actually pretty normal for me any time I go on stage. Jason was a veteran drummer of ten years, and Alex had already been in a few bands, so I was the greenhorn. I was also, by last call of "not it", the spokesman.
TRACK 1 - [Draw Blood] - Written by me. Me - elec. guitar & lead vox, Alex - elec. guitar
This was the first song I ever wrote that I didn't immediately hate. I improvised the lyrics in a jam session with Jason, and then we scrambled to remember them and write them down once we realized they were actually good. We decided our setlist order by all three of us writing down separately what we thought it should be and then comparing lists. This was number one unanimously. Stylistically it is a blatant rip-off of the White Stripes. Considering that the White Stripes blatantly ripped off their own sound, it's hard to feel too bad about it.
TRACK 2 - [Still On Course] - Written by Alex. Me - bass, Alex - acou. guitar & lead vox
Alex brought this song along with him from his solo stuff. I felt like it was the strongest piece we had in terms of both lyrics and composition, so we played it second. In addition to taking the show up a notch in quality, it was also a nice contrast to the sharp edge of our first number. My bassline through most of the song bounces along a "1, 1 2" beat, but when Alex sings about evolution I changed it up to "1 2, 1 2 3". Anyway, I thought it was clever.
TRACK 3 - [The Ragnarök Blues] - Written by me. Me - acou. guitar & lead vox, Alex - elec. guitar
I wrote this song while sweeping the floor at my old janitor job. There's a lot of mental space to fill between four and six in the morning in an empty showroom. This was also the first bridge I ever wrote all by myself - it took me two hours at least - and the final half-verse came to me in a stroke of rhyming inspiration later on. I love Alex's solo.
The beginning of the song is ripped off from an old tune by a friend of a friend called The Eskimo Blues. Also referenced are norse mythology, The Time Machine, "The Tempest", Dr. Strangelove, H.P. Lovecraft, and the Revelation of John.
TRACK 4 - [Awake] - Written by Alex. Me - bass, Alex - acou. guitar & lead vox
Another of Alex's solo tunes that we adapted for the band. I was pleased with both of the vocal backup parts I wrote for his songs. They were a lot of fun. Singing while playing the bass is harder than singing while playing guitar, for reals.
TRACK 5 - [Night of the Peacock] - Written by me. Me - elec. guitar & lead vox, Alex - elec. guitar
This song was an experiment on several levels. The guys had noted (correctly) that I tend to cram my songs full of lyrics. I wrote this to play with the idea of letting a melody carry the movement forward. It's written specifically for two vocal parts. The idea was that I sing lead in the beginning, but by the end we've switched and I'm singing backup.
Additionally, this was one of the first serious songs I ever wrote. It was actually the song I liked the least, but I was surprised a few months after the show when Jason the drummer told me that it had been his favorite. It's grown on me a bit since then. I wrote the chords, but the amazing hook was Alex's work.
It's kind of sort of about death, and trying to paint it as something personified, and not anything to be afraid of. As I said, an experiment.
TRACK 6 - [Norweigian Wood] - Written by The Beatles. Me - elec. guitar & lead vox, Alex - acou. guitar
Our first cover of the night! We played around with a lot of possible songs to cover, including Come Together, Foxey Lady, and Where Is My Mind. We settled on this one because it sounded so nice even the first time we took it for a spin.
Tracks five six and seven were the jangly part of the set, where we slowed things down a bit and set our effects boxes to "echo". This piece also marks the only time in the entire set where I don't change instruments between songs.
TRACK 7 - [Keep the Car Running] - Written by The Arcade Fire. Me - bass, Alex - acou. guitar & lead vox
This was my favorite song off of The Arcade Fire's second album, and I was inspired to try it back when Jason and I were idly jamming together. It was an obvious choice for Jupiter Deathray once the project actually began to take shape.
After a few rehearsals it was agreed that Alex would sing the lead part, since he had a higher range than me. I've fought jealousy ever since. He does sound great though, curse him. Synchronizing the half-a-beat-too-soon sudden stop ending took much, much practice. That's what makes great bands great though... it's not whether they sound good, because most of them do. It's those little touches where you suddenly realize they must have rehearsed for hours on one little bit to get it perfect. That was our inspiration for the project, really; not just to be a band, but to emulate a great band.
TRACK 8 - [Eleven Saints] - Written by Jason Webley. Me - acou. guitar & lead vox, Alex - bass
This song was so much fun. I came across Webley's music video on the internet, and had bounced the tune around with Jason the drummer previously. As the show approached, we checked the licensing lists to see what covers we could legally play, and had to cut a few. This was a last minute replacement for one of those, but I'm so glad we made the change. Jason Webley personally gave us permission to play this song, with the condition that we send him a copy of our version afterward (which we did). He wrote back, "what fun!" and complimented a small change we made to the original lyrics which was a special feeling.
TRACK 9 - [Ozymandias Had A Myspace Page (Cheer Up Emo Kid)] - Lyrics by me, music by Alex. Me - tambourine & lead vox, Alex - acou. guitar
This was another tune I penned when in all probability I should have been mopping floors instead. Later, Alex was just hanging out playing some weird chord pattern and I pulled out my lyrics notebook and began singing along. Against all odds, it worked perfectly. I love his backup harmonies in this one. Alex had (and still has, I imagine) a remarkable ear.
Jason, our drummer, despite furlongs of talent, was actually incredibly shy. This was the one song we insisted that he begin, before any other voice or instrument was giving cover.
The song draws an odd parallel between modern day "emo" nonsense and the titular character of Shelley's 'Ozymandias'.
TRACK 10 - [Volcano] - Written by The Presidents of the United States of America. Me - bass & lead vox, Alex - elec. guitar
Our last song of the night. Over already? Sadly, yes. We decided not to end on a song we had written just in case everyone hated our stuff. This was a sure-fire crowd pleaser and I don't think there's anything the matter in playing it safe. It's hard to tell, but the ending of this song was the section we practiced the most of any part of any song in our setlist. The cacophony of noise as we wrap up was improvised on the spot, but just before that there's a pair of hits that come "1-2-3, 1-2-3-4-5". That part.
In our practice sessions we would rehearse not only the music, but non-verbal signs as well. Communication in the band structure as you play can be difficult, and with so many songs someone is going to forget something. To protect each other, you must be able to convey information to one another by your eyes, body posture, the way you strike the strings of your guitar, anything. This one was tough for Jason since the end hit came after a series of repeated riffs and it was easy to lose count. Both Alex and I worked together to help cue him with the way we played and moved. That sort of relationship is the camaraderie I loved about Jupiter Deathray. The band was always more important than any individual member. Everything was decided - song choices, venue, even specific lyrics - on the basis of whether or not it was good for the band.
So that was our adventure. It is a warm memory for me, even now. Jason and I still jam together, but he's decided that he is not interested in being "in a band". He's just happy making music. I've seen stills of Alex on the drums behind some guys playing the Tractor Tavern, so there's the opposite path. Me, I'm sort of in the middle. I still write songs, and I still like to go play them at Soulfood's open mic night. It's nice to see myself improving; Jupiter Deathray was the first time I'd ever tried writing real music. I don't imagine I'll ever be famous, and I imagine even less that I'd enjoy it if I was. But for that one night two years ago, it was a lot of fun to pretend.
- Jux