Friday, November 22, 2013

This is What Happens Live...

I've been recording what, for me, is the most "commercial" material I believe I've done in my 20+ years of making electronic music. The result is a hybrid of my industrial, noise, and experimental routes with my love of Acid and hard beat driven music. The result is MegoDETH and the Album is Spanner in the Works



Now, if that wasn't bad enough I specifically recorded and envisioned this project to be performed live. And earlier this month that is exactly what I did. During the recording phase I used whatever instrument (and as many) as I felt made the track the best it could possibly be. But live one needs to economize and simplify. I don't use pre-recorded tracks or laptops and outside of drum machine patterns which I programmed I wanted everything to be played live. I eventually streamlined the main setup to one drum machine, one ultra-flexible analog monosynth, and a TB303 clone (the FR-Revolution) which stored it's own sequences but could be easily played live and remixed on the fly. 

Along the way during rehearsals with the live setup I came up with some new material. One song that kept presenting itself  had a melodic hook which I could play live and  the more I played it the more it sounded  familiar. Not in a I've-heard-this-before type way but in a hey!-that's-sounds-like... way. Now theoretically as the composer I shouldn't be so damn surprised when I listen to my own music but one of the main reasons I play electronic instruments (and specifically book live shows) is that it puts me in a new creative space. I've said "less is more" before on this blog but that's never been more evident on this ditty I call "Spud Dance" in homage to the group that inspired me to merge rock, synthmusic, pop, and a smart and damn good time well over 30 years ago.

So, without further ado, MegoDETH performing my encore song from the night "Spud Dance".



Devolve on!