The Promise Hero

Track By Track: The Promise Hero “Okay, Cool” Part IV
February 26, 2011

“Still Alone”

There was a point at which we had finished “Fall,” “See You,” “Better Things” and “All These Days” and weren’t really sure of what other songs to approach. We had started recording one idea, which never got anywhere past the guitar tracks. We knew we could hammer out “No Matter What I Do” at any point (which we eventually did), but were unable to commit to a sixth song. Then one day we got together and Bobby played “Still Alone,” which he had completed for the most part, and it stuck.

We weren’t really trying to do anything fancy with “Still Alone,” we just wanted to make a solid pop/punk rock song with minimal parts and catchy hooks. The bell solo was something I played while messing around with ideas for the bridge, but it ended up staying as it grew on us after hearing it back so many times. The original idea was to have a few bell parts going on, played rather sloppily (but in key), to recreate the effect of wind chimes. We settled with two parts (the main solo and a marimba part) which create the same effect but maintain some sort of melody.

One of the most difficult parts about recording this EP was having to rely on a tambourine designed to be mounted on a drum set instead of played by hand. Where a handle should have been, there was only a protruding metal mount which dug into my hand and made it difficult and painful to realize any of my tambourine dreams. Some of this frustration is taken out at the end of “Still Alone,” where the tambourine is heard being thrown across the room after torturing my hand for an entire take.

Okay, Cool is available now on limited edition hand numbered vinyl-top CD. Only 250 were made!

Buy: CD, iTunes

Track By Track: The Promise Hero “Okay, Cool” Part III
February 19, 2011

“No Matter What I Do”

This song, at least its chorus, had been floating around for a long time. I always thought it was pretty catchy when Bobby would jam it on the acoustic while we were on the road, sitting around random places in random cities wondering if we’d find a place to stay that night. This EP provided an appropriate avenue to finally turn that chorus into a song, so we did.

While the chorus had been in existence for years there was no verse and no real idea of where to go with it, thus “No Matter What I Do” ended up being one of the last songs we finished. We wanted to keep it pretty simple and folkey (Word doesn’t think that’s a word) and were particularly inspired by The Tallest Man on Earth’s LP “The Wild Hunt.” After auditioning several ideas we came up with a pretty radical (in its simplicity) chord progression and melody, which became the verse. It took several hours of toiling and many hours of sitting around to construct the lyrics of the verse, which is probably why there is no bridge (only a harmonica solo).

Recording this song was fun in that being so simple we were able to throw around some different ideas such as keeping the sound of a tapping foot in the mix, which is complemented by a tambourine. The vocals during the verse are panned halfway to the right to allow them further seclusion and to contrast against the chorus, also creating a sense of aloneness (but not necessarily loneliness). Adding to this are the sudden increases in the amount of reverb on the vocals, which happen on the last word of each verse. We had a single harmonica on hand in the key of C and, after committing to a harmonica solo, had to change the key of the song to fit that of the harmonica. Upon the song’s completion, in order to maintain interest and sacrifice catchiness, we shifted the words in each chorus around so that each is slightly different. We also added more and more harmonies each time the chorus comes in, only to provide some sort of direction toward a climax. What ended up being the simplest song on the EP actually took, from conception to birth, the most time to be fully realized.

Okay, Cool is available now on limited edition hand numbered vinyl-top CD. Only 250 were made!

Buy: CD, iTunes

Barely Blind Free Download
February 14, 2011

Download Barely Blind’s new song, “Love! (Isn’t Everything),” for free here! Go ahead and tell your friends too because sharing is caring.

Track By Track: The Promise Hero “Okay, Cool” Part II
February 13, 2011

“See You”

“See You” is the second song on the EP and also the second song we recorded. Bobby had written and made a demo of it – although I purposely abstained from listening to any demos so as to maintain a fresh outlook on each song. Lyrically we kept the chorus and bridge relatively intact and rewrote (or at least reworded) the verses. I always hate to inject meaning into a song’s lyrics, as it will typically mean the most to the listener however he or she may interpret it. We tried to make the meter and rhyme scheme natural and interesting, focusing on the overall sound and flow of the words while trying to maintain a cohesive theme.

Having already finished (for the most part) one song we had an idea of where to go and how to get there, which allowed us to focus more on the instrumentation, production and lyrics. We recorded the guitar parts first without much of an idea of how the rest of the arrangement would sound, confident that it would come together in a similar fashion to “Fall.” When I hear the intro guitar riff I envision an old man noodling on his guitar, smoking a pipe while rocking on the front porch – so maybe our relaxed demeanor translates. I don’t remember when we decided that the song needed an accordion but I do remember trying to find the one I knew we had lying around, eager to finally put it to good use. It took a moment to figure out the right chords on the old squeezebox but once it was on tape (by tape I mean hard drive) I think we were both pretty excited about what it added to the mix.

Recording one song at a time allowed each to have a unique style and sound that we would not have been able to achieve had we recorded all of the drum tracks at once, then bass and so on…and “See You” is probably my favorite in terms of overall sound and production. It is the longest song on the EP, although at 3:13 it is no “Stairway to Heaven” or “Desolation Row.”

Okay, Cool is available now on limited edition hand numbered vinyl-top CD. Only 250 were made!

Buy: CD, iTunes

Track By Track: The Promise Hero “Okay, Cool” Part I
February 5, 2011

“Fall”

We came together on the first day with very few ideas about what we wanted this EP to sound like, let alone where to actually begin. Luckily Bobby had one song nearly finished so we decided to jump right in and start recording. We recorded the acoustic guitars and followed with the vocals, since they were already finished. We still had no idea what we were going to do to fill out the rest of the song and thought about leaving it at that - just acoustic guitar and vocals. Originally we thought maybe the whole EP would sound like that, with no drums, bass or other instrumentation. We recorded some percussion (at the beginning of the song) to keep it moving but still weren’t satisfied with the sound. I remember a few days passing, wondering what we could do to really make the song stand out. When we decided to record drums we weren’t sure what they might add to the mix but after hearing it we knew we were on the right track. Bass followed and then the rest of the backing vocals.

Throughout the EP, we focused in on the vocal arrangements and tried to create interesting harmonies and thick vocal pads to fill out the sound but still adhere to the natural element of everything. We wanted the acoustic guitars to stand out along with the vocals and for everything else to serve as support. We feel we succeeded and this song is a great example of the sound we were going for. While it remains upbeat and catchy, there is a rawness to it that highlights the honest and open nature of the lyrics. This rawness and openness (lyrically and otherwise) is a recurring theme throughout the EP as well.

So “Fall” became the first song we recorded and subsequently the first track on Okay, Cool. We felt it was an appropriate opener as it jumps out at you instantly and is a good measure of what is to come. Speaking of what’s to come, check back next week for the “See You” explanation!

Okay, Cool is available now on limited edition hand numbered vinyl-top CD. Only 250 were made!

Buy: CD, iTunes