Spray (MRI) {demo using Roland vKit TD-15KVS}

recently re-mastered this quick demo to try to better dial in Alan's Roland Vkit (TD-15KVS). still not happy w/ it...the more i brought the drums up the more i hated how they sounded. but the idea is cool and i like the overall haunting feel of track. think the only route to go is to re-record the drums completely using his Ludwig set or my Pearl Masters set.  see, going for a 'Kashmir' type thang... the beat is steady and hypnotic & the guitar phases in and out of downbeat w/ every other measure in the verses.  song is loosely about the plight of the impoverished American southwest native american population, many whom are addicted to 'gas huffing'; told from the point of view of Ian Curtis R.I.P (of Joy Division, who hanged himself in 1980) kinda reflected in the outro here, which bleeds out like the last few beats of a dying heart.

http://soundcloud.com/abeautifulvirus/spray


SPRAY (demo)
[Ian Curtis 1956 - 1980]
© 2009-2012  MRI
Words & Music by Daren Thomas Turner

*************************************
Let me go
to the sun
and you won't
know i'm gone
                   
Let me be
not afraid
let me know when i'm dead                                

(where i'm home)

Yes there are two paths you can go by
And those who lag behind
Are cut off and discarded to keep   
The last of us in line...

Let me kill
what's inside
drinking formaldehyde
                   
A jar of clay,
glass of sand,
can of spray, is all i am

(where i'm home)
       
Yes there are two paths that are crossing
And those who lag behind
Are cut out and discarded like meat   
Rotten of maggots and flies...
                       

*************************************
Guitars, Vocals: Daren Thomas Turner
Drums: Alan Cruz
Bass: Daniel Denial
*************************************

thanks Lynn :) yea suffice to say it's not exactly a love song lol 

exactly.  thus the 'art'...  suggestive imagination... license to connect unconnected dots...

see, Ian suffered from epilepsy and manic depression... his signature stage presence of constant uncoordinated girations and floor-fits that people interpreted as his 'act' were simply symptoms of his epilepsy... this made him feel even more of a social pariah.  if you read his lyrics they are replete with themes of alienation, anomie, nihilation, loneliness, solipsism, darkness...  which also parallel drug addiction/ suicidal ideation.  the plight of the native american population is sad to begin with when you remember that the white man stole their land and raped them of their spiritual connection with the natural world... they are so poor, especially out west, that they can't even afford real drugs/street drugs so many simply steal cans of spray paint from home depot.  i had a friend who lived on a reservation out in arizona who died when his lungs froze up after a spray binge...

yea the oscillation of Alan's drums with downbeat phasing in and out each other measure against the guitar riff contributes to that a bit as the vocals meander through it all, but kinda was desired effect.  there is a bit of AIC flavor too, the verses are six tracks of vocals, as I tripled each vocal track and harmony to thicken up my voice and on two of those tracks i stood about 7 feet away from a hot AKG perception mic in a room with a very high ceiling to give more 'space and air' and natural reverb