Should you check out the history of a random long-term band, of any periods of experimentation invariably one is found in the early steps of their careers. (This goes for most bands except AC/DC, who were, of course, awesome at birth).
This is pretty logical when you think of it; when flailing about to find your own voice, typically you end up hopscotching genres and trying out all kinds of silly things to get somewhere you realize you want to be.
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| Good ol' Angus going for progressive. |
In songwriting, this results in "artistic" ideas in songs placed front and center; quirky song structures, weird sounds and off-kilter instrumentations tend to mask the nagging feeling of "not being quite there yet". Once it becomes clear what you want to focus on, it often makes more sense to write songs simple and to the point.
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When heading to record last Fall, we'd been going through this process of simplification for some time as a band. Our chosen two songs for these sessions, "The Wait" and "Catch a Fire", definitely reflect this. The experimental part of Sestina still was, and is, alive and well, but I feel we've gotten better at getting to the point. Hence, simpler songs.
Furthermore, we were much more confident with the roles of our respective instruments in this band, so the arrangements were infinitely more simple this time around.
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The genesis for these particular songs, however, is probably the love of playing live.
In May 2011, Sestina had made its live debut in this new incarnation. It was a hit-and-miss session - as first shows usually are - but once the rush of playing your music to a receptive audience hits you, you kind of want to get there with all you've got.
So pretty soon after that show, these two songs were born.
The Wait was the one to come first. Once the basic chords had started rattling in my head, I insisted in making a relentless, pounding live anthem out of it. I think most of our early rehearsals of the song had me screaming repeatedly "louder!!! hit harder!!!" to everyone. At one point, the prospect of double kick drums was a genuine consideration.
When the song was ready, which happened quite fast, it soared just like I wished it would. I knew it was a good one, but I still had a lot of hesitation of it being too…well, normal. After all, the song structure was the most basic ABABC -drivel that's been done to death for half a century now, and there was very little signarure Sestina weirdness going on.
Oh well, sometimes you just have to play the AC/DC -defense and try to pass simplicity as a virtue. Even though Angus Young I'm not.
See you next week. Until then, Shearwater. Check it out.
~Markus
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