Writing the songs for V for Voice spanned a decade and a half, most of which was spent without any idea the record would ultimately happen.
The origins of several pieces on the album date back to 2002-04, after near and far and when I was writing the signs.comets material. Following that I slowly accumulated song ideas here and there that never fit on other records I was doing. At different times some of these songs had been penciled in for echoes, The Sleepover, and Sally Ride.
In 2014, as I prepared to pitch Scott on making an album, I went through my demos and notes like a curator, putting together what I thought would make a satisfying, diverse-yet-cohesive tracklist. Little changed from then; one song was newly written and added (“Usually on a Battlefield”), and a couple “maybes” were affirmed or dropped along the way as we figured out what worked and what didn’t.
Looking back, writing can be divided into three phases:
- Ideas from 2002-04 that weren’t completed during our original h&s run (3-4 songs)
- Ideas from 2005-14 that weren’t composed specifically for h&s (8-9 songs)
- Arranging and writing lyrics for the ideas above after committing to the record, plus one new song, 2014-19
| Music | Lyrics | |
| When Breathing | 2002-04 range, likely 2004; I have early lyrics on a page along with a to-do list for my visit home from Minnesota for Thanksgiving that year | Started along with the music (opening “When breathing in…”, first verse and chorus rough ideas), added to and revised 2015-18, finished 2018 |
| Gabriel Speaks | 2002-04 range | 2015-18 (though “Gabriel Speaks” was the working title from the start) |
| We Are 1nes | Possibly as early as 2002, but I think more toward 04-06, echoes era. But then, why didn’t I put it on one of those EPs? So, could even be after Be A Ska Rat | Same as music |
| Khreap Corbz Smarggh | The first demo I have in iTunes was created March 21, 2012. There’s a demo of the vocal melody from July 12, 2015. The Sleepover recorded the Believe… EP in August 2011, and I remember after that Cory and James invited Scott and I to write new Sleepover material if we wanted. This would have been my #1 choice to contribute if we’d stayed together. I have a clear memory of demoing the drums in my old carriage house | 2017-18 |
| Traveling Mercies | I’ve searched hard for this demo, and can’t find it. An instrumental was there and ready when I set up the V for Voice recording sessions in February 2016; memory says it’s from several years prior to that | Finished 2018, though the first verse is from earlier |
| Beams | 2002-04 range | Started along with the music (mostly scratched; the ending melody may be all that made it from the original vocal ideas); added to, revised, and finished 2018. “Beams” was the working title from the start |
| Usually on a Battlefield | 2016; Cari Ann gave me an Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork pedal for Christmas 2015, and I wrote a ton of riffs in the weeks that followed. | 2017-18 |
| Let Them Land | 2002-03 (I think 2002. I wrote the music and working title in Ghana – memory says on my first trip – but I’m not sure) | 2016-17 |
| After The Rain | August 28, 2011 (I sent myself an email and printed it instead of handwriting the first page, so it’s date-stamped) | 2018 (though “After The Rain” was the working title from the start) |
| When Breathing (Stops) | I remember playing it at a St. Peter’s event the week I wrote it, so 2005-06ish | Same as music; this one was written all at once |
| 200Y | The demo file in iTunes was created December 8, 2012 | The phrase “In two hundred years…” and chorus melody came with the music; the rest of the lyrics are 2018. Verse melody somewhere in between |
| Private Eisley | iTunes demo file created October 9, 2011 (for all of these demos with iTunes dates, it’s possible the music was written months or even years prior) | 2018 |
| Stay In Time | Fall 2004; I remember writing the melody and the rough lines of the chorus at Wayzata Community Church family camp. The bulletin from the service I was in (and obviously not paying attention to) is in my notes somewhere, with the actual date. Would have been Sept-Oct | Started 2004; added to, revised, and finished 2018 |
The connections between “When Breathing,” “Gabriel Speaks,” and “Beams” and near and far/comets-era h&s are clear to my ears. What’s interesting are the ways old ideas echo more subtly in much later stuff:
- “Usually on a Battlefield” feels spiritually reminiscent of “After Hrs War” and “Mightier Than The Sword”
- The free introduction of “Let Them Land” (an otherwise edge-pushing song for us) is straight off of something like “Under My Protection”
- “200Y” reminds me of “Hymn for our T.M.D.” for more than its 6/8 time signature
- The strum of “When Breathing (Stops)” hearkens back to “Nexus” and even “Spectrum”
- “Private Eisley” is straight old-school genre exercise like “I’m So In Love”
- The whole record has an end-of-Blues-Or-Astroblue everything-and-the-kitchen-sink quality, much more so than I planned, but welcome