So at 5am i rolled out of bed this morning. I should have gotten up earlier, but there are only so many mornings in a row where I can push myself. Sitting beside the keyboard was a pad of graph paper with xipetotec’s notes on it regarding the items for each song that need to be done. I’ve anxiously awaited it’s arrival because every track was never finished. They were taken as far as I felt comfortable taking them until I had xipetotec’s input. I’ve always viewed him as my right hand in music, and I think he views me as his. We both have the capacity to compose without the other, but there is an added dynamic when the idea is bounced off someone else. This is one of those cases where “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”
I think it’s worth mentioning that xipetotec and I have been at this for so long that there really isn’t a way for either of us to offend the other. There isn’t a power struggle for the controls, and all input is valid. It will likely take Alyce a bit before she feels comfortable putting forth her input. I can completely relate as when I met xipetotec back in ’95 I was walking into what appeared to be a similar situation: an existing group and I was the new guy. We may have a long history, but that just affords us the ability to in general know what the other is about to do. Live that is a requirement if you want to work in any extra variation to the material.
Alyce has an amazing voice to say the least. Check out the vocal version of “Following a Trail of Breadcrumbs.” That was just one take of improv! All we did was apply some eq and some effects. We’re pretty damn lucky the first person stumbled upon by chance has so much raw talent. Saved us the painful process of auditioning multiple vocalists.
But back to the subject at hand: the notes of xipetotec. The first step in digesting material is hearing it and enjoying it. Then the mind begins to discect it, and it starts to coagulate in the mind. It is then that it starts to take on characteristics of another and begins to become, for lack of a better expression, fully baked.
I guess what I’m getting at is it isn’t a solo effort.