Ha ha -- could not resist that title. But as I rehearse with the band for our CD release gig on Sept 10 in Portland (Dublin Pub, 7 p.m.), I cannot help but get into the four more proggy songs on my new CD, A Fear Of Flashing Light.Yes there are eight other tunes that range from acoustic based storytelling type songs to straight ahead rockers, but I am really digging what I call the proggy songs. Those are tracks 1, 7, 8 and 11 (The Garden, Comfort Zone, The Mokus, and Rescue).
You can check it all out at this A Fear of Flashing Light link.
Also, for anyone who has been waiting for an actual CD version (as opposed to the digital version that came out June 1), you can get that now. Just order from the site and we'll ship it right away. Only $5 including shipping - what a baaaargain! Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
7 comments:
I bought the digital version and seriously dig it. I've been wondering about the title of the album and if you might discuss its significance to you. Is there a general theme to the album or is it a kind of "best of" for the material that's built up since the Strangers/Isor?
Sorry if this sounds like a half-assed Rolling Stone interview, but you might want to get some practice talking to journalists...
Hey Tom - it is a long, drawn out story and sadly not very interesting. I was trying to find something from a lyric on the CD that would be a good title and nothing struck me that way. So then I started thinking about opposites, like "Truth and Lies" etc but again nothing hit me. Except, Fear and Light. I thought that was kind of cool. So I googled it and the first thing that came up was "Selaphobia" which is a fear of flashing light. So for a day the CD was going to be called Selaphobia. I know, terrible. When I came to my senses, I thought, well, the definition of that word is kind of cool. It stuck with me and there you go.
That's pretty cool. Creativity can come from all directions and through funny associations. However, you do understand that my own personality would have demanded I stop at Selaphobia :)
I guess that's why I'm not in marketing... There is some mental miscalibration going on if one thinks: "Selaphobia. Yeah! That will resonate with people on a personal level." Clearly, the term "fear of a flashing light" has more poetry to it.
How about the second part of my original question about the material itself?
I know. It was great until I started thinking about explaining that title, putting it out to the world on facebook etc. Much like when we almost called a Strangers CD "Estuary." The second we role played some club owner saying that our new CD was called Estuary before we took the stage, that name was out. Thank God.
In terms of the material, I would not call it a best of, but for sure I went deep into the vault for some of it. The oldest song is Wondering Why, from 1989. Played it in various bands and recorded it twice but never properly. The newest songs were either written completely or polished up during the recording. Voices, for example, I wrote in 12/09. Problem is I have a backlog of all sorts of stuff that never got recorded at all, or to my satisfaction. I think all of my CDs moving forward will probably have a 90s orphan or two on them!
Wondering why is a fantastic tune. I remember you doing it live with the Strangers years ago. I'm not sure when it was introduced, but I seem to recall that it was early enough that I played bass on it live (possibly even for a very early demo tape).
The Estuary story is pretty funny. Even I have enough marketing sense to recognize it as, er, an awkward title. That said, image the long pauses and blank stares Yes must have had with Tales from Topographic Oceans...
Hey Tom - I am sure you played on it live and probably on a demo tape too, which means it's been recorded at least three times by full bands, outside of any live recordings! I always loved the song and knew it would be great at some point. Always was hard to pull off live due to the open tuning/capo, and the complex vocal harmonies. But I am really happy with the current recording and can finally put that song in the 'done' pile. Only took 21 years. Jeebus.
Thanks for the comments, man! Glad you had a role in the evolution of that tune.
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