So I’ve got my YouTube channel up. Right now it’s just hosting the songs from Permanent Press. But this will be the main hub for long form content, behind the scenes videos, and just random shorts and ideas I’ve been coming up with. I’m working on a welcome video today and figuring out an upload schedule that I can adhere to. Be sure to subscribe to stay up to date on my releases. Thanks! (Video should go live @ 12 PM EST)
Suicide Sunday
I put this track first because of its importance to me. I’ve had my own struggles with depression and I know many others do too. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in our lives. Routine, stress, let downs, and negativity. They’re all normal parts of life. Yet, somehow they always manage to capture our attention the best.
So I tried to draw a contrast between these warring states of mind between the verses and the chorus. To illustrate the melancholy of daily life being fought by the truth that we so blindly ignore. The world around us is amazing. Life is something to be cherished. Something to be celebrated. Yet our very society has constructed our prison of thought. What we have is somehow never enough.
We live in a world that is constantly telling us we aren’t good enough. That we don’t have enough. Idolizing celebrities and painting this picture of lives that we will never have. Yet we chase them, day in day out. It’s hubris. We never accept things as they are. We have this internal bias to fixate on what we don’t have. Setting conditions for our own happiness.
It’s a choice though. Every day you can either see the world full of obstacles you may never overcome or choose to see it for what it is. An endless expanse. Full of opportunity. Full of wonder. Sometimes we just need a change of perspective. Sometimes we just need to open our eyes.
Prayer
O’ Muse
May I prove worthy of your inspiration
As I write, Let your song sustain me
And my passion flow
Let me see beyond myself
Grant me freedom from fear and apathy
Above all let me find purpose in my pain
So that I might create something worthy of your favor
And give meaning to my sacrifice
So, I’ve always been a big fan of mythology and fantasy. Ironic I name my band A World Without Gods and begin my first album with a prayer. But I’ve always enjoyed the idea of the muses. They are considered the source of knowledge in all art. It makes me think of Homer’s The Odyssey. It was common practice to invoke the muses before poetry, hymns, or epics. So I figured, if I’m going to make it big, I better ask some goddesses for help. In all seriousness, I think of it more as a mantra to guide me through my journey as an artist.
Once I had the words together I put down some nice atmospheric synth chords. Then I copied those same chords to a cello section and noodled around with the violins ending on a tense fifth into my wall of sound guitars. Honestly probably could have taken that tension right into starting Suicide Sunday, but I decided on a guitar solo instead. Because, well… I was having fun and that’s how it ended up.
I figured it would be interesting to give some insight in to my thinking for the songs I’ve written. So this is the first of many posts about the songs on Permanent Press.
Permanent Press – About the Album
So this is my first EP I’ve ever written. I used it as a means of exploring different stylistic influences and honing my sound. All of the songs draw inspiration from different aspects of my life over the past few years. But overall I kept it pretty lighthearted and fun. I’ve only been singing for a little over a year. So a lot of my time went to writing lyrics and figuring out my voice. I definitely learned a lot as I worked on this album. I think I need to focus a bit more on consistency in the vocal tracking. Once I had the arrangements sorted out I really delved into mixing theory and spent a good deal of time getting more comfortable with that.
The artwork and title of the album came from a picture I took at my old apartment in Tulsa. I was pretty stoned at the time and thought it would make a great album cover. So when time came to write the EP, I figured, “Fuck it, why not?” Seemed fitting for an EP. I also love alliteration. So that too. No real deep meaning to it.
I may write some posts about individual songs. I know I plan on getting into the recording process and mixing approach down the road. I’ll probably post videos about that. I am eager to hear more feedback. I know some of you have already shared your thoughts. What did I do write, what could I do better? It’s all appreciated.
Thanks,
Landon